Digimon Excel
by Darkiceflame
Summary: Fifteen years ago, two powerful Digimon clashed in a battle which raged so powerfully that they threatened the entire Digital World with destruction. At the last moment, the Super Demon Lord Ogudomon sacrificed his own body to defeat his foe. Now, the same evil is beginning to stir once again, and it is up to a group of heroes to protect this world from being destroyed once more!
1. Lightning Strikes! Enter A New World!

_Yes, I know, I'm starting another Digimon story when I should be working on my older ones. Especially since not only those, but a majority of my stories haven't been updated for nearly a year or more._

_But for now I'm doing this. I hope for the idea to get further than a few of my past stories, and maybe spark interest to go back to them as well._

_Anyway, here we go once more!_

* * *

**Digital World, Fifteen Years Ago**

When two giants clashed atop the peak which bore no name, the entire Digital World shuddered in fear.

To the north stood an enormous green being known as Titamon, whose incredible size was matched only by the sheer power of the enormous sword he carried. Eyes blazing with murder, he faced his opponent in preparation to enact total destruction.

His foe was Ogudomon, an enormous black beast which stood on seven spindly legs. Through each of these legs, a sword had been driven hilt-deep, and was topped by a floating symbol in one of the seven colors of the visible spectrum.

The two had been fighting for weeks, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. But now at the crown of their world, the final battleground was set.

Ogudomon was-to pardon the expression-on his last leg in the fight. Though the two had been evenly matched at the start of their conflict, it was obvious now that Titamon had the upper hand.

"Catedral!" The Super Demon Lord called, causing the crests floating in the air to glow and rotate. One by one as each passed over the giant mouth on its chest, they fired shots of blackness tinted with their respective spectral color. The shots homed in on Titamon, who raised his sword in defense.

"Konpaku Shingeki!" The Titan bellowed, charging forward. His blade swung high, crackling energy surrounding its form. With a roar, Titamon swung, unleashing his full destructive force with the blow.

Unable to dodge completely, Ogudomon twisted to the side. The blade completely severed two of his legs, as well as continuing its arc until the entire mountain had been cleaved asunder.

"Surrender and I will make your death a swift one!" The Titan roared. "You cannot hope to defeat me."

Ogudomon knew that his foe was right. "True enough, but I can still take you with me!" He lunged forward with his remaining strength and grabbed ahold of his foe.

"Demon Lord Sacrifice!"

A shrieking wind split the air as dark energy wrapped around the foes. Titamon bellowed in agony as the black energy drained away his power.

"Fool," He hissed. "You'll destroy us both!"

"That is the only way this conflict will truly end," Ogudomon replied. "Our power will be divided throughout the world. And perhaps this time...it will be used for good."

With that, the Demon Lord dissolved into data, the seven crests which had surrounded him shrinking to points of light and soaring away.

Titamon's roars rose in strength as he began to shrink away. Like Ogudomon, points of light burst from his body and soared away, but his diminishing form remained.

"Mark my words," the now diminutive form declared. "I will regain my former power, and then I will use it to destroy yours! I will not rest until you have been forever stricken from this planet!"

And with that, silence fell. Only a small gold-clad figure would hear those parting words.

"Then I must make sure that never happens," He vowed. Then he soared off to inform his master.

**Seattle Washington, 6 September**

The universe seemed to have some sort of vendetta against Alex, who was currently running across downtown Seattle through a huge downpour. His electric hair looked as though he'd just gotten out of a shower, and his green hoodie and navy jeans were almost completely soaked through.

Behind him, his sister Annalise was protected beneath their single umbrella against the onslaught. The younger girl wore only a yellow cotton blouse and white shorts against her brother's advice. Luckily, not a single drop was landing on her golden hair, which she had insisted on braiding before they left.

Typical. She spent so much time just fixing her hair when she should have been finding more weather-appropriate clothes.

But Alex couldn't worry about that now. His first concern was reaching the arcade before his friends gave up on him. They were already thirty minutes late.

"Can't you slow down just a bit please?" Anna called. "I have short legs!"

Grudgingly, Alex slowed his pace enough that they were soon walking side-by-side. Anna tried to shield her brother from the rain with her umbrella, but it was only large enough for one person and she simply wasn't tall enough to reach up over his head.

Soon enough, they had reached the arcade and were able to escape the downpour. Stepping through the doorway, they were greeted by two figures-a boy and a girl-who waved them over to one of the machines.

"There's your girlfriend," Anna chuckled, much to her brother's annoyance.

"Way to be mature," He muttered back. "Remember, you were the one who volunteered to come with me. I don't have to bring you."

Anna nodded quietly, shaking out her umbrella and stepping into place behind him. Alex grinned before heading over toward the two. The boy, Noah Butler, was red-haired and wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt with a silver stripe running from the shoulder down on the right side.

The girl was Jennavive Myers, or Jenna as her friends called her. She wore a red knit sweater and black skirt. She had a knit hat matching her sweater placed atop her deep brown hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. Currently, she was beating Noah at his favourite game in the arcade, Global Kung Fu Showdown 3. Alex watched as the small pixilated figure on her side of the screen sent out a snap-kick to knock the other fighter over, winning her the round.

"That's hardly fair," Noah complained. "Maybe you could ease up just a bit?"

"And break a 41-win streak? Not a chance," Jenna gloated. "Come on, loser pays."

Noah frowned. "That was the last one I brought with me today. You've already driven me broke."

Jenna checked her pockets for coins but to no avail. "Aw man! I can't stop now, I just have to win once more to break the record!"

She jumped slightly as a coin was placed on the machine next to the buttons used to control it.

"This one's on me," Alex grinned. "Now beat that record."

Noah groaned. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sanders."

Jenna nudged her glasses further up her nose and nodded. She then proceeded to thrash Noah once more.

"Forty-two straight wins," The redheaded boy moaned, letting his head sink to land on the console. "I give up..."

"You put up a noble effort," Jenna consoled him.

"I wasted ten bucks letting you thrash me," Noah countered. "And I still wanted to play more games..."

"I think you've blown through enough of your allowance for one day," Alex said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Besides, I was under the impression that we were going to the park today."

"In this weather? You're insane," Noah grimaced.

"How about someplace warm then?" Anna piped up. "There's a cafe around the corner; we could get hot chocolate with marshmallows there."

"Sounds fun," Jenna nodded. "Alex is buying though, since the two of us wasted all our money here."

"Just try not to break my wallet," Alex joked.

The four hurried out of the building, making every attempt to remain under the overhangs above various shop entrances to keep out of the rain. Soon they had reached the cafe and were about to order.

It was then that Alex's day became very strange.

The first sign that something was amiss was the tingling sensation which ran down his spine as they waited to order. Like a military unit snapping to attention, the hair on the back of his neck prickled, sending goosebumps down both arms.

"Did anyone else feel that? Like a sort of tingling on your necks?" He asked quietly so as not to disturb the other customers.

His companions shook their heads, none of them having noticed that anything was off.

"Probably just you, dude," Noah declared. "Some kind of reflex; you know, like when you're trying to sleep but you suddenly jerk and wake yourself up for no reason?"

Alex nodded, though the feeling had been nothing like that at all. He looked around for a second, wondering what could have caused that feeling. As he glanced toward the window, his attention was drawn to a boy standing outside the cafe. He had jet-black hair reaching his shoulder, and wore what appeared to be a black longcoat. Beside him, a large brown dog sat at attention, eyes sharp.

Both sets of eyes-the boy's green and the dog's black-were focused directly on Alex.

"Hey, is it just me, or is that kid looking straight at us?" Noah spoke up, following Alex's gaze. As soon as he did so, the boy abruptly turned and left.

"Something about that guy gave me a weeeeeird vibe," Alex declared. "I say we go talk to him, find out why he was spying."

"But what about our hot chocolate?" Anna complained. "We'll lose our spot in line!"

"We can wait a few extra minutes," Jenna nodded. "Besides, this could be fun! Maybe he's some kind of spy."

"Or just a stalker..." Anna muttered. Regardless, she followed her brother and his friends onto the street.

Later, Anna would spend many nights wondering how things would have been different if she had insisted that they stay inside, that they shouldn't follow the boy and his dog. Maybe that would have stopped what came next.

The second they reached the street, Alex's entire body seemed to tingle with static. He looked around wildly for the boy,trying to locate him. But amid the rain, he saw nothing.

BANG

A bolt of lightning, large enough to take a good sized chunk out of Alex's head, crashed to the earth a mere ten feet away from him.

Anna screamed, grabbing ahold of his arm, while his friends moved closer, scanning the sky frantically, as if they would be able to see the next bolt before it landed.

With no warning beforehand, the world around them dissolved into splinters of brilliant light as electricity coursed down from the sky as though sent down by some angry giant. Distantly, Alex thought about how they ought to try to get back inside, to seek refuge.

That was when the largest bolt of all came down directly on top of him and his friends, driving any thoughts at all from his head in an instant.

-X-

The black-haired boy watched all of this from the sidelines, nodding quietly as the group vanished, leaving no evidence that they had ever stood there in the first place.

"Some of them might not survive this journey, Isaac," The doglike creature at his side growled. "They all may very well be dead."

Isaac shook his head. "Worry not, Dobermon. We chose each one of them with absolute certainty. Not only will they survive, they may even be what we need to save both of our worlds."

With that, he turned toward the wall and slashed his arm downward in an arc. The device strapped to his forearm flashed and a glowing portal opened in front of him. Without another word, the two calmly stepped though the portal and out of our world.

-X-

Alex wasn't quite sure how he was still alive, considering that he'd just been hit with enough lightning to turn him and the others into piles of ash. All he knew was that the four of them were floating through a black tunnel filled with tiny green ones and zeroes. And they were heading toward the end at incredible speeds.

He held tightly to Anna, fearing that if his grip loosened even a fraction of an inch, she would be torn away. Nearby, Noah and Jenna had joined hands, the fear apparent on the former's face. Oddly, Jenna's expression was one of excitement, mixed with just a slight hint of confusion.

"Wherever this thing is taking us, try to stay together," Alex called to them. "I don't think we can get to you, but we'll try to find you!"

The others nodded, looking forward toward the tunnel's end. A single bright point was the only indicator that there was an end at all, but it continued to grow larger by the second.

Eventually, Alex began to feel other presences, as though they were not alone in this void. Concentrating, he began to make out the outlines of others traveling along the tunnel, separated by translucent walls of binary. All of them seemed to be moving in the same general direction, but in slightly different trajectories.

"Other people must have gotten caught," Anna deduced, noticing the figures. "When the lightning hit everything. Maybe they died and we're all going to Heaven..."

"I don't think so," Jenna decided. "If we were all dead-" She reached up and pinched Noah's arm "-Then this wouldn't hurt."

"Yeowch!" Noah protested.

"So whatever this is, it's not just happening to us," Alex declared. "Get ready, we're nearly to the end."

Each of them braced for the impact, still gripping their partners. They hit the wall of white as though they were diving into a pool, and immediately flew off in random directions. Alex was instantly glad for his choice to hold onto his sister, as she was nearly torn from his grip as soon as they were freed from the tunnel.

The next few seconds were a whirlwind of action. They seemed to be falling downward, but the increasing momentum which should have resulted did not take effect. Alex watched in disbelief as they touched down softly in a grove of trees.

"What...just happened?" Anna asked after a few seconds. "Are we alive?"

They stood slowly and drank in their surroundings. The grove of trees in which they had landed ended abruptly a few meters away in the form of a sheer mountain. There was no way they were getting down anytime soon.

Looking around a bit more, he noticed something else. Two other figures were descending lazily from the sky toward them.

"Those must be some of the other people from that tunnel," Anna noted. "Wonder why everyone is landing right here?"

"Let's go see if it's anyone we know," Alex suggested. Anna nodded and the two set off to intercept the falling figures.

-X-

Bree was sure she was dead from the moment the bolt arced down from the sky and hit her. She had practically felt her body burning into nothingness, followed by a coldness which must have been oblivion. So the pastors had been wrong all a long-Heaven was just a happy thought for people who wanted to be optimistic as their lives ended.

But then everything changed when she felt something firm against her back, as though she was lying on top of something. Was there ground in limbo? She had assumed that she would be floating through emptiness for eternity, or at least until she ceased to exist.

"Hey, are you alright?" A voice asked, cutting through the static in her ears. "C'mon, please don't be dead..."

Well that settled it. Somehow, impossibly, it seemed that she was still alive. She groaned softly, trying to open her eyes.

"Well she doesn't seem to have any broken bones as far as I can tell," A second voice noted from nearby.

"My brother is studying to be a doctor, so he knows all about this kind of stuff," Came the sound of a young girl.

Bree finally worked up the strength to open one eye. Above her, she could see a boy of about her age with slick brown hair and deep caring brown eyes. His skin was a soft tan, in a way to give the impression that he was of Native American or possibly Mexican descent, but she had heard no accent in his voice.

"Well good morning, sleeping beauty," The boy joked as she sat up slowly. "We were starting to get worried for a minute there."

"Where am I?" Bree asked, deciding to cut straight to the chase. "And who are you guys?"

The boy who had woken her gestured to himself. "My name is Gareth Pineiro. Those two are Alex and Anna Sanders. I just met them both myself," He leaned in a bit closer. "And who might you be?"

"Bree Moors," She responded grudgingly. "Not that it matters to you."

"Gee, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," The boy, Alex, noted. "Or more appropriately, the wrong side of the universe."

Gareth shot the kid a glare. "Cut her some slack; the last thing she probably remembers is getting hit by lightning."

"Right, sorry," Alex nodded. "So you were there when the accident happened too?"

Gareth gave him an odd look. "OF course I was there-I was right in the middle of it."

"That can't be," Alex frowned. "We were right in the center, but I don't remember seeing you."

"Maybe the lightning didn't just hit in Seattle," Anna chimed in. "It may have happened in multiple places. Where are you from?"

"Michigan," Gareth replied. He turned to Bree. "And you?"

"Why do you care?" She asked grumpily, sitting up.

"Well seeing as how we're sitting in a forest on the top of a mountain, I see no reason why we shouldn't get to know each-other," Was the boy's response.

Bree huffed in annoyance. "I'm from Montana, if you must know."

"Cool," Alex gave her a thumbs-up. "Guess we're from all over the place then. Isn't it strange, then, that we all got zapped here at the same moment? Must be fate or something."

Bree scoffed. "There's no such thing as fate. There's obviously someone behind this-someone who planned to bring each one of us...wherever we are."

"If you say so," Alex shrugged. "By the way, are you two hungry? We saw a tree with some berries in it on our way over here."

Bree was prepared to decline when her stomach suddenly gave a loud growl, giving any pretense away.

"That answers that," Gareth chuckled. "Wait right here and Alex and I will go pick a few." The two quickly stood and walked off, leaving Bree alone with the kid, Anna.

"So you said your name was Bree?" Anna asked conversationally. "Is that short for Brianna, by any chance?"

Bree nodded. "Why, is that your actual name too?"

Anna shook her head. "My full first name is Annalise, but it's cool that we both have it in our names."

"Guess so," Bree sighed.

Anna sat there for a few moments, just looking around. "This place really is beautiful, isn't it? I wonder if we're still on earth or not? Alex thinks this is a different planet because we saw some big rocks floating in the air in the distance. What do you think?"

Bree considered the idea. "Well, I've never given much thought to the idea of other worlds, but seeing this, I guess it makes sense."

"I wonder if there are people here too," Anna continued. "And if there are, do you think they look like us, and do the same stuff we do?"

"They could be aliens," Bree allowed herself to smile. "Big green bug-eyed aliens with six fingers."

Anna giggled. "You seem a lot nicer now than when you woke up."

Bree paused. She hadn't even noticed it happening; she had gone from snapping to smiling in a matter of minutes. "Guess I'm just glad to be alive. It's a nice feeling."

-X-

"They should be somewhere around here," Alex assured his new acquaintance. "Big blue berries the size of my fist."

Gareth was hesitant. "Are you sure they're even edible? Who knows what kind of poisonous stuff there is around here."

Alex considered it. "To be honest, I'm not even sure how to find out."

"You're in luck then," Gareth grinned. "My grandpa is really big on wilderness survival. He knows all about that kind of stuff and even taught me a bit."

The two reached the tree with the berries and Alex turned. "Alright then, if you're the expert, how do we find out?"

Gareth went to the tree and scanned around the trunk. "The first indicator is animals nearby, living or dead. If you only find dead ones, the berries are probably poisonous. If there are live birds or anything else in the nearby trees, that's a positive sign."

Alex glanced around quickly. "And if there are no animals at all?" Come to think of it, he didn't even hear birds chirping or see bugs crawling around.

"Well then we go to test number two," Gareth replied, picking one of the berries. "We take a bit of the juice and run it along our gums without swallowing any. If it starts to sting after a few minutes, it's probably poisonous. If not, it should be safe to eat."

Alex did so, swishing a small dribble of juice in his mouth before spitting the rest out. It was a lot like a blueberry-sweet with a hint of tartness. The temptation to try more was hard to keep back.

"You don't need to worry," A voice suddenly spoke from a nearby tree. "Those berries are harmless. To be honest, I'm surprised you found a tree with so many; most places they would have been gobbled up long ago."

The two boys looked around wildly, trying to spot the source of the voice. As they did so, a small figure dropped out of the tree in front of them.

"Nice day, ain't it?" asked what appeared to be a childlike creature with a pointed tail and curving horns. "Hey, what are you two dopes starin' at?"

Gareth was the first to recover from the shock. "S-sorry about that, but...what exactly are you?"

The purple creature huffed, straightening the red bandana around its neck. "The name is Impmon, and what I am is a Digimon. Sheesh, don't you people know anything?"

"Apparently not," Alex finally managed to speak. "I've never even heard of Digimon."

Impmon looked at him oddly. "If you've never heard of Digimon, does that mean...you're from the Human World?"

"What other world would we be from?" Gareth asked, obviously interested in the little creature.

Impmon took the question as a reply. "This is awesome! If you're from the Human World, that makes you guys Tamers, right? Where are your digivices?"

"Tamers?" Alex asked.

"Digivices?" Gareth's question carried the same tone.

"You two really don't know anything," Impmon sighed. "Do you have phones on you? Or any kind of electronic gizmos?"

The boys both nodded.

"Well pull 'em out and get ready to watch something really cool," Impmon chuckled.

Gareth was the first to respond, pulling out a sleek black smart phone. With a sudden crackle of energy, the phone morphed slightly in shape. It was still rectangular, but now sported bright yellow trim and three buttons along either side of the screen. On the bottom, a thin port the length and width of a quarter opened up. With a chirp, the power came on, displaying a green-lettered message in the screen's center.

"Digivice Excel," Gareth read. "I'm guessing this is the thing you were talking about?"

Impmon nodded enthusiastically. "That's a basic digivice, or at least the basic model of the most advanced type. You are now a full fledged Tamer," He hesitated. "That is, as soon as you find a Digimon partner."

"I get to choose a partner?" Gareth clarified. "And what exactly does that mean? What do I need a partner for?"

"To fight other Digimon and become stronger," Impmon explained. "When you partner with a Digimon, it's able to grow in strength much faster than it would on its own. From that point they're kinda like your own personal bodyguard."

"I like the sound of that," Gareth nodded. "Since you're the one explaining it all, why don't you be my partner?"

"For real?" Impmon asked in excitement. "I was hopin' you would ask, but didn't think you would actually do it!"

Gareth nodded. "If you'll help us out around here, then consider yourself partnered."

Meanwhile, Alex pulled out his phone as well, to see that it had also morphed into a digivice. His looked much like Gareth's, but the trim was an electrified green. As he turned on the power, the words "Digivice Excel" popped up as well.

"So what exactly are these things for," He asked. "And what is a Digimon?"

Impmon turned now to him. "Digimon is short for Digital Monster, and we exist in a world composed entirely of data. You two managed to cross over to our world somehow, probably because of that freaky storm at the temple earlier.

"Anyway, the digivice is like an all-access pass around here. It can store things like food, supplies, and even Digimon electronically. If you've got a partner, you can do even more stuff, like get your partner to digivolve in battle to beat strong enemies. Digivolving is where a Digimon transforms into a stronger form, and the more training and bond there is between you two, the higher level your partner can digivolve to."

The boys were silent for a while, trying to process what had been said.

"Not that this isn't a great place and all," Gareth spoke up, "But is there any way these things can get us back home? I was hoping not to be late for dinner tonight. I could take you with me, of course."

Impmon shook his head. "Not with the digivice you've got. You would need to upgrade it with Digiport functionality for that."

"But it's possible?" Alex clarified.

"Yeah, if you know the right guy. In fact, I met an Andromon in Codon City once who might be able to do it," He frowned. "But to get there you'd have to get off this mountain. Not exactly an easy thing to do, with sheer drops on all sides. But then again, most people have the problem of getting _to_ the Temple of Jupiter, not the other way around."

"That's what this place is called?" Alex asked. "The Temple of Jupiter?"

Impmon jumped up on a stump. "The temple itself is off in that direction. That's where Jupitermon is said to rest. "The stories tell us that someday Jupitermon will rise up and leave the mountain, raining down justice on all the evil in the world."

Here's hoping we aren't on that list," Gareth chuckled. "I say after we bring back these berries, we take the girls there to check it out. Could be fun, and maybe someone there will know how to get us down from this place."

"Sounds like a plan, partner," Impmon cheered. "Let's go collect your friends and head to the temple! I smell the makings of a beautiful adventure here!"

-X-

Isaac and Dobermon watched all of this from the trees a distance away.

"That was fast," Dobermon commented. "The brown-haired kid has already found his partner. Next thing you know, those kids will all have partners who can digivolve. Then things will really get interesting."

Isaac nodded. "Assuming they don't die first. Come on, we should report this success to the council."

He slashed his hand through the air, opening another Digiport and stepping through.

_I hope you're right, Dobermon,_ He thought as the vortex swallowed him. _I hope these kids can survive. Because if not, this place is going to destroy them in the blink of an eye._

* * *

**AN: With the summer season finally here, I have more freedom to write. I'll be making an effort to continue this story and as many of the others I should be working on as I can. Be prepared to hear a lot from me in the coming weeks.**

Next time on Digimon Excel:

_While Alex and his team try to find a way to escape Mount Voltan, an evil force is moving through the surrounding area, taking over like a plague. Unfortunately, Noah, Jenna and their new friends are caught right in the middle of it. It's a struggle to survive in a world they barely understand as they desperately attempt to reunite with their friends. You won't want to miss chapter two of this electrifying series!_


	2. Chaos In The Temple! Rick Gets Fired Up!

**Here's the newest chapter to this story. I hope to be able to continue updating regularly for as long as I can.**

**Also, please pardon the slight timeskip at the beginning of the chapter. I didn't really want to repeat the same song and dance as before with the first chapter. Perhaps I'll explain it more in-depth later on.**

**Note: In the Digimon Excel continuity, Armor level Digimon can be equivalent to any level from Rookie to Mega. Also, for reasons to be explained later, Mikemon and BlackGatomon will both be treated as Rookie Digimon.**

* * *

_Jenna: Previously on Digimon Excel, Alex, Anna, Noah and I were thrown into the Digital World and separated from each-other. There, Alex and Anna met Gareth and Bree, two other children who had experienced the same strange electrical storm they had. The boys went off to look for food, where they discovered Impmon and learned a bit more about this new world._

_Meanwhile, Isaac, a strange boy with his own Digimon partner, Dobermon, seems to be following Alex. What is his purpose, and who does he work for? Questions will be answered right now on Digimon Excel!_

-NOAH-

Noah's day had been strange from the moment that boy had shown up outside the cafe back on earth; a place where he clearly no longer was. After the lightning bolt and strange portal full of floating binary functions which looked straight out of the Matrix, he and Jenna had been deposited right in the center of a large lake...

_FLASHBACK_

_The water struck him like a heavy blanket, squeezing him in an embrace which was somehow warm, but also suffocating. He quickly oriented himself in the water, still holding on to Jenna, and began swimming upward._

_"You look like you could use a hand," A voice declared, vibrating in perfect tone despite being underwater. "Well I may not have one to lend, but here's hoping a fin will do."_

_Noah didn't even care that the speaker appeared to be a giant fish. He simply grabbed ahold of its dorsal fin and was pulled along by its strength._

_"The name is Swimmon, by the way," The creature explained. "I've been waiting a long time for you to get here. Welcome to the Digital World!"_

_-X-_

_"So when you think about it, Digimon are a lot like earth animals, but much more diverse, and in my case, more intelligent," Swimmon finished his explanation. "And you two are destined to become Tamers and partner with us to fight evil!"_

_"That sounds awesome!" Jenna cheered. "When can we start?"_

_"You've just got to find a partner of your own, the way Noah chose me," Swimmon reiterated. "Then you can use that digivice your phone turned into to help them digivolve."_

_"And you're sure it will still work after getting wet?" Noah confirmed. "I should probably call my mom and let her know I wont be home for a while."_

_"Don't worry, they have automatic sealant protection against water and dirt. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the phone function works across dimensions, so you'll have to wait on that."_

_Noah was about to voice his dismay when the trees rustled once more. Out stepped four figures-a boy and girl with sandy and silvery blonde hair respectively, a bipedal lion-like creature, and what appeared to be a large rabbit wearing some sort of robe._

_"You guys too, huh?" The boy asked. "Great; the plot thickens."_

_-X-_

_Noah and Jenna quickly became acquainted with Derrick and Alisa Baums; twins from Ontario who had become partners with two Digimon-the bipedal lion Coronamon, and the rabbit known as Lunamon. Unbeknownst to them, these four would be with them as partners for quite a long time, through many difficulties, including the one they were about to face..._

_END FLASHBACK_

The seven of them were now traveling along a dirt path which Coronamon claimed led to a village where they could obtain supplies.

"This is the way to travel!" Swimmon's voice chirped from within Noah's blue-trimmed digivice. "I can finally go somewhere other than that nasty lake. Honestly, you get tired of seeing the same old coral and algae day in and day out."

"So you've lived there your entire life?" Noah asked.

"As far as I know. I may have been someplace else right after I hatched, but becoming a water Digimon gives you limitations. I can get around on land if I have to, and I can even glide for a bit if I get a good jump in, but I'm not very fast out of water..."

"That's alright, I can just be the one who carries you around," Noah grinned. "But you talked about becoming something else because of...was it digivolution? What exactly does that mean? Are you just going to keep transforming as you get stronger?"

Coronamon perked up at this.

"Actually, Noah, Digimon do stop digivolving eventually. In fact, unless you've got a partner helping you, it can take years for a Digimon to grow strong enough to digivolve even one level."

Rick looked down at his partner. "So you only digivolve a certain number of times? How many?"

"It changes for every Digimon," Lunamon spoke up. "But there are six basic stages in a Digimon's life cycle. After hatching from a digi-egg, they usually start out as a baby form known as Fresh form. Later, they digivolve to In-Training, and then Rookie, which is the level the three of us are at.

"Then there are three more main ones-Champion, Ultimate and Mega. They get stronger in that order and each level takes longer to reach. A majority of Digimon only reach Mega near the end of their lifetime, unless they gather lots of data or are super strong."

"Then there are special ones too," Swimmon reminded her. "There are Armor Digimon who can be any level, from a Rookie all the way to Mega. Usually Armor Digimon digivolve using special digi-eggs, but sometimes they can become one normally."

"There's other levels too though, some even higher than Mega, but those first six are the basic ones which almost any Digimon can reach eventually," Coronamon finished.

"That sounds awesome," Jenna grinned. "I hope I get to partner with a really strong Digimon-an Ultimate, or maybe even a Mega! I'd be able to take out any of those guys you said have been attacking Digimon around here."

"You'll probably get a tiny little snake who can't even attack or something," Noah grinned. This was received with an elbow to the ribs delivered by Jenna.

"Hey Rick," Coronamon spoke up after a few seconds. "I thought you would want to know that we're getting close to the town."

"That's a good thing, right?" His golden-haired partner asked.

"It would be," Coronamon nodded. "If I didn't smell smoke in that direction."

A panicked air swept instantly over the other four. Rick was first to react, turning to his sister.

"Allie, I want you to stay here with Lunamon and the others until I come back. Coronamon and I are going to check things out, then come get you guys if it's safe."

Allie huffed, obviously used to having her brother try to keep her out of "trouble," despite the fact that she claimed to be the older twin. "And if it's not?"

"Then we double back and try to find somewhere else for supplies," Rick continued. "Don't worry, I'm only going to check things out."

His twin nodded, obviously bummed out over the fact that she was being forced to stay behind. Rick, meanwhile, took off along the path.

"I should go too," Noah decided. "I'm the other one with a Digimon partner and I can keep him in line."

"Don't do anything crazy," Jenna spoke up. "You still need to help me beat my win streak on Global Kung Fu Showdown 3."

"But you just barely set the new high score," Noah complained.

"Strive for greatness," Jenna grinned. "Now hurry up, he's getting away."

Noah nodded and jogged off as well. It took him only a moment to catch up with Rick.

"Do you make a habit of lying to your sister?" He asked as he drew even with the other boy.

"I'm only going to take action if there are few enough for us to take out," Rick assured him. "Coronamon and I can handle this."

"So, not a lie, just not the entire truth," Noah surmised.

"Sometimes, in order to keep others safe, we just don't tell them about the bad things. Ignorance is bliss, you know," Came the boy's reply. "Quiet now; somebody is close by."

That somebody turned out to be a strange creature with a misshapen rubbery body, three-fingered hands and a strange gas mask covering its face. It ambled past them slowly, not noticing them through a large bush.

"That was a Troopmon," Coronamon explained.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Coronamon: Troopmon is a nasty Undead Digimon which is basically just a rubbery skin filled with evil energy like a balloon. They are often created by a larger master so it can't think for itself. In addition, it doesn't feel pain or fear and won't stop attacking an enemy until either it is ordered to retreat or one of them is torn to ribbons._

"So it's not seeming likely that he'd be friendly," Noah noted. "Can we take them?"

"With two Rookies? It'll be tough, but if there are only a few of them and we pick them off one by one, we should be fine," Swimmon advised.

"The real question will be whether their boss is here," Rick spoke up. "You heard Coronamon-with these guys, someone else is always pulling the strings."

"I'd like to see him try pulling strings after a run-in with my Razor Fin," Swimmon grumbled. "But remember, we aren't gonna take them on until we've scouted out their numbers."

Rick looked out at the Troopmon still ambling off. "Maybe we could grab that one and force it to tell us how many there are, or at lest who it's working for."

"Worth a try," Noah nodded. "Swimmon, you up for it?"

"Our first battle as a team," Swimmon sniffed. "It's beautiful."

Noah held his digivice out in front of him and gave the order, "Swimmon, Realize." In a flash of light, the giant fish Digimon went flying forward, gliding through the air as effortlessly as he would have on water.

"Brine Pistol!" He called, sending out a jet of concentrated sea brine which knocked the Troopmon off-balance.

This was all the lightning-fast Coronamon needed to get in a good hit. With a cry of "Corona Flame," He fired a blast of heat from the crownlike object on his head.

The Troopmon spun, dizzy from the blows, and the steam which now was rising around it.

"Razor Fin!"

"Corona Knuckle!"

Two simultaneous blows took the Digimon from either direction, causing its latex skin to tear in several places. Wispy clouds of data leaked out as it fell.

"We need to find out what it knows before all the data disintegrates," Coronamon warned. Rick nodded, running in and grabbing the Troopmon by the neck.

"How many Troopmon attacked the village? Who is your master?" He shook the creature with intensity, so much so that Noah was understandably frightened.

The Troopmon made no noise-perhaps it didn't have the strength to. Instead, it leaned back and seemed to exhale once more before a beacon of emerald light burst from its mask. Rick swore, jumping back as he returned to the others.

"It must be a built in mechanism in case one of them is defeated!" Coronamon cried. "We need to get out of here!"

"Why? What does it mean?" Noah demanded.

"It means that this Troopmon has been attacked," Coronamon replied. "And now every one of its brothers close enough to see that signal will be coming after us."

-ANNA-

When Anna first saw the cat wandering around in the woods, she thought at first that she might have been seeing things. For the entire time they had been here, she had not noticed a single bird, bug or animal in this forest.

"Did you see that?" Bree asked, confirming her suspicion.

"Yeah, wanna go check it out?" Anna grinned.

"The boys may come back soon," Bree noted.

"Then they can wait for us just like we've been waiting for a half-hour. I'm starving and maybe that cat can lead us to a fruit tree or something."

Bree shrugged before following her younger companion after the cat. It wasn't long before they found it heaving and tugging against a large rock which appeared to have fallen on a strange rabbitlike creature.

Suddenly, the cat turned to them and gave a full-on Cheshire grin.

"Excuse me," It began. "Would you mind helping me with this?"

And that was how they met Mikemon and Gazimon.

-ALEX-

The surprise Alex felt when he discovered his sister cuddling an oversized cat wearing gloves was only rivaled by that when it jumped to grapple onto his face and began talking to him.

"You must be Anna's brother, Alex," The cat purred. "My name is Mikemon. I've been waiting to meet you for hooouuuurrrrssss..."

"We only met thirty minutes ago," Anna noted.

Impmon, meanwhile, had strolled over to where Bree and the rabbitlike creature, Gazimon sat. "Hiya, Gazimon. Been a while since I saw you, eh?"

"Guess so," Gazimon nodded nonchalantly.

"You guys found a Digimon too?" Bree asked Gareth, who had been bringing up the rear of the group. "Is he your partner?"

"Sure is," Gareth nodded. "I'm guessing the four of you got acquainted while we were gone?"

"Yes," Mikemon nodded, finally releasing poor Alex's head. "These two helped Gazimon and I out of a pretty sticky situation, but we're alright now.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Mikemon: I'm Mikemon, by the way. I'm a Rookie level Beast Digimon with an eye for beauty, especially if it glitters. Watch out for my Neko Claw and Beast Mesmer attacks though-I use them to show that I'm no pushover!_

_Gazimon: And my name is Gazimon, another Rookie, but don't be worrying about my claws. The saying "His bark is worse than his bite," definitely applies to me with my Electric Stun Blast technique!_

_Impmon: While we're at it, let me formally introduce myself. I am Impmon, another Rookie, but I'm sure I hit like a Champion. You'll be impressed when you get a load of my explosive Badda Boom technique. If that doesn't get the job done, I use my Machine Gun Kick to finish them off, or Night of Blizzards to punish foes with waves of darkness!_

"So why does everyone get a partner except me?" Alex griped.

"Maybe you just need to find the right Digimon," Impmon suggested. "Or any Digimon, really. Not many live on Mount Voltan to begin with. You might find one when we get to the temple though."

Mikemon turned sharply to face him. "You're going to the Temple of Jupiter? Why? Are you insane?"

"We need to go there to figure out how to get down," Alex explained to her. "Impmon said there may be someone there who can help us. Is there?"

Mikemon was quiet for a long time. "Yes there is, but you're probably not going to like meeting him."

"How bad can he be?" Gareth joked, but was silenced by a glare from Mikemon.

"You would be surprised," She continued. "He lives inside the temple and guards it day and night. If he wanted, he could probably delete all of us in a fight. We call him the Steward of the Gods."

Alex grinned. "Perfect. Then I'm not leaving this mountain until this guy, whoever he is, agrees to be my partner."

-JENNA-

The pillar of light was the first indication that something had gone wrong with Alex's plan. The second took the form of horrible shrieking sounds which reverberated through the entire forest.

"Those sound like Troopmon," Lunamon shuddered. "Coronamon is in trouble!"

"There's nothing we can do to help them from here," Jenna declared. "We need to regroup and defend ourselves!"

No sooner had she said this than a Troopmon leapt out of a tangle of bushes, slamming a fist into Alisa's side. The girl went flying, but was luckily caught by a leaping Lunamon.

"Tear Shot!" The rabbit called, launching a bolt of liquid energy at the creature, knocking it off-balance.

Jenna grabbed the first weapon available-a sturdy branch-and swung it at the Troopmon's head. The impact was soft, as though she had struck the surface of a hot air balloon. A small tear opened in the creature's neck, causing a slight trickle of data to begin.

"Jenna, it's hollow!" Lunamon called. "If you rip a big enough hole, all of its energy will spill out and it'll be powerless!"

Jenna nodded, swinging the branch again. Unfortunately, the Troopmon turned and caught the blow on its gas mask face, shattering the piece of wood.

"Plan B?" Jenna called nervously.

"Lunar Claw!" With a flash, Lunamon leapt in with claws of shadow, shredding the monster's rubber body like sackcloth, instantly spilling its data.

At that moment, Rick and Noah came running back out of the forest.

"One of the Troopmon sent out a distress beacon," Rick puffed. "My bad...should have been more careful."

"We need to find cover," Coronamon insisted. "Lunamon, are you hurt?"

"I'm okay, just startled," Lunamon explained. "One of those Troopmon attacked us."

"And you fought it off by yourself?" Noah whistled. "Impressive."

"Come on guys, Rick is right," Jenna interrupted. "We need to find someplace to hide."

They ran, searching desperately for any sort of cover. After a few moments, they reached a shallow cave.

"If we squeeze, we should all be able to fit," Swimmon declared.

"Easy for you to say; you're inside the digivice!" Noah growled. Still, he squirmed into place and tried to make room for the others.

"If we're lucky, maybe they won't see us," Alisa whispered.

"GRAAAAHHHH!"

"Why are we never lucky?" The blonde whimpered.

"We have to stand and fight," Coronamon declared. "We can't let these guys beat us!"

"Are you going to try that thing?" Rick asked. "Digivolving into a Champion?"

"If I can," Coronamon nodded. "Come on, let's make our stand!"

The four children leapt up from their hiding place and took up defensive positions, their Digimon out in front.

"I count seventeen Troopmon," Jenna reported. "And it took three of us working together just to take out one. Not sure I like those odds, and that's coming from me."

"Is the gaming queen getting cold feet?" Noah chuckled. "It's a bit late to duck out of this fight."

The Troopmon finally lurched into motion, howling as they went. That was definitely a change-the Troopmon from before had been completely silent during their fight.

"Corona Flame!"

"Tear Shot!"

"Brine Pistol!"

The three attacks collided with the opposing force, but only served to push them back slightly.

"Digivolution isn't working," Rick called. "We need a new plan!"

"I've got one!" A voice called down to them. In a flash, a small creature leapt from the ledge above them.

"Spiral Twister!" A vortex of energy burst from the creature's mouth, lifting several Troopmon off their feet and tossing them back into their allies.

"Get moving!" The creature yelled to the others. "We have no time to lose!"

-ALEX-

The Temple of Jupiter looked just as intimidating close up as it had from a distance. With huge twisting towers which reached toward the heavens, the entire place resembled an explosion frozen in place just after forming.

"They say it was formed by a bolt of lightning," Mikemon explained. "And that the ground that exploded melted into crystal and metal from the heat. Jupitermon decided he liked the place, so he turned it into his temple."

"That guy must have way too much time on his hands," Gareth whistled.

"He does now that he's dead," Gazimon muttered.

Bree raised an eyebrow at him. "Jupitermon is dead? But isn't he, like, a god or something?"

"Even in this world, nobody can really be a god," Impmon shook his head. "Jupitermon just happened to be a pretty mondo powerhouse. He and his comrades, the Olympus Twelve, used to be like the diplomats of the whole world."

"Then Titamon started attacking them and absorbed all of their power," Mikemon added. "And he kept that power locked inside his body until it was released during his battle with Ogudomon."

"Who is Ogudomon?" Anna asked softly.

"Fifteen years ago, Ogudomon was an incredibly powerful Digimon known as the Super Demon Lord. He was one of the most powerful dark Digimon in the world," explained Impmon. "But even though he was called Demon Lord, he wasn't inherently evil. In fact, when Titamon tried taking over, he came to stop him."

"They had a huge battle which lasted for weeks, and split Atlas Mountain in half," Gazimon nodded, the respect in his voice obvious. "And at the end, Ogudomon sacrificed himself to destroy Titamon."

"That's an amazing story," Alex said in awe. "But...what happened to the power of the Olympus Twelve?"

"It vanished," A new voice growled from somewhere in front of them. "When Titamon was struck down, the energy was dispersed to new hosts, though who those are, nobody knows."

Alex raised an eyebrow as a birdlike creature stepped out of the shadows. It resembled some sort of owl with its curved beak and feathers sticking back into twin points on its head. Where its wings would have been, however, greatly resembled feathered arms tipped with claws.

"Who exactly are you? Are you the guy we're looking for?" Bree asked.

"It should not matter to trespassers like you," The Digimon growled. "I am Falcomon, Steward of the Gods. Leave this place, or I will destroy you."

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Gazimon: Yep, this is our guy. Falcomon is a powerful Rookie Digimon who likes to live in tall mountains. He may seem tough with his Wind Blade and Falco Rush techniques, but this flightless bird is actually pretty compassionate when you're not on his bad side._

"Gazimon, Mikemon, you brought these intruders here?" Falcomon demanded.

"These four are our Tamer partners," Mikemon explained. "They need our help to get off the mountain."

Falcomon scoffed. "Partners? Well I count three of you and four humans here. If they are too weak to each find their own partner, why should I help them?"

Alex stepped forward suddenly, holding out his digivice for Falcomon to see.

"Because I am a Digimon Tamer too, and _you_ are going to be my partner."

It was impossible to tell who was more shocked by the outburst-Falcomon or the rest of his team. Gareth stepped up beside him.

"Are you insane?" He demanded. "I thought you were kidding about that! Why would you want to partner up with this jerk?"

"I agree with your friend there," Falcomon nodded. "Except for that last part. Why would you think I would ever become your partner?"

"Because I sense that you have a good heart and a strong spirit. Those are exactly the types of characteristics we need on this team to survive. We could really use your strength."

Falcomon was silent for a moment. "There is...a sort of aura about you. It intrigues me." He looked up sharply. "Very well then, I will join you on one condition."

"Name it," Alex nodded vigorously.

Falcomon threw his arms out wide. "Before I join you, you must defeat me in trial by single combat!"

"Are you insane?" Mikemon demanded. "You want to challenge a human even though he has a major disadvantage to you? That isn't fair!"

"Then I will use none of my techniques. We will fight with our physical skills alone, hand-to-hand."

"This's still suicide," Impmon declared. "Alex, don't tell me yer gonna be crazy enough to fight this guy!"

Alex ignored them all. "I accept your terms. Let's do this!"

Falcomon gave a bow of courtesy which was returned by Alex. Moving into their respective fighting stances, they waited, neither one wanting to move first.

Finally, the anticipation was too great and Alex dashed forward, knowing full well that he was opening himself to attack. Falcomon waited for him to get close, before attempting a jab at his solar plexus-a move which could take a fighter out in one blow if they weren't fast enough.

Alex was fast enough, twisting away and bringing up a knee in an attempt to catch Falcomon off-guard. But the bird man had reflexes just as sharp as, if not sharper than Alex.

"You seem at least capable in combat," Falcomon acknowledged. "But there is a great difference between being capable and possessing skill!" He moved in with a kick, too fast for Alex to dodge, which drove the air from his lungs. His body screamed at him, but he forced it to move, grabbing his foe's foot. With a grunt of exertion, he heaved Falcomon around, tossing him away.

"He's not bad," Gareth admitted. "To keep moving after a kick like that? Impressive."

"Alex used to take judo for a little while," Anna explained. "The man who he learned from taught him that sometimes you have to take a hit if you want to hit the other guy even harder."

"Sounds like some pretty good advice," Bree nodded. "But that was still a pretty nasty kick. I'm not sure how much longer Alex can hold him off, much less beat him."

But Alex was nowhere near finished. He went on the offensive, swinging punch after punch, only to have each hit blocked. It was clear that unless he found a way around Falcomon's speed, he would tire out long before he landed any significant damage.

In a split second, however, that no longer mattered. Before either could strike again, an explosion rocked the area, knocking everyone from their feet.

"Something else is attacking us!" Mikemon called. "Get down!"

The group hit the dirt as another blast of energy hit the ground nearby.

"Who would dare to attack this place?" Falcomon demanded. He looked up to see what seemed to resemble a snake with wings flying around.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Falcomon: This is an outrage! Airdramon is a winged Digimon meant to serve holy Digimon with its Spinning Needle attack. To attack this temple, a place which it ought to be protecting, is inexcusable!_

"Spinning Needle!" Airdramon launched another blade of wind toward them, which was Narrowly dodged by Falcomon.

"Alright kid, let's put this on hold," The Digimon called. "In fact, what say we team up to teach this guy a lesson?"

Alex grinned. "I thought you would never ask."

-JENNA-

The Digimon who had saved them was quick to introduce herself once they were clear of the Troopmon.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Biyomon: The name is Biyomon; I'm a Rookie bird Digimon, but that doesn't make me weak. With the spinning power of my Spiral Twister, this girl doesn't let anyone push her around!_

"Thanks for saving our hides back there, Biyomon," Swimmon grinned. "But what are you doing here?"

Biyomon looked at him sadly. "Those Troopmon have been sweeping across the entire forest, destroying all the villages they came across...and the last one they reached before this was mine..."

Jenna immediately kneeled down to hug the pink Digimon. "That's terrible! And you escaped?"

"I was the _only_ one who escaped," Biyomon replied. "Which is why you guys should help me stop those Troopmon!"

"How can we do that?" Noah demanded. "If you haven't noticed, you were the one who saved us just now."

"But I heard you talking," Biyomon insisted. She turned to Rick and Coronamon, "You said your partner could digivolve. So digivolve and stop those Troopmon!"

"Well..." Rick rubbed the back of his head. "You see..."

"I've never actually digivolved before," Coronamon finished. "But I'm sure if I did I could take out every one of them!"

"That's not exactly encouraging," Jenna frowned. "You're gonna have to try though. There's no way we can beat all of those Troopmon like this, and we don't even know who's controlling them."

Biyomon shivered. "I know. It's an evil Digimon called Musyamon. If we defeated him, the Troopmon would be powerless!"

"Do you know where he is?" Alisa asked.

Biyomon nodded. "He's in the center of the village which was just destroyed, probably still plundering the place."

"Then we'll take the fight to him," Jenna grinned, holding a hand out to Biyomon. "Will you help me do that?"

Biyomon was hesitant, but slowly stuck out her wing. "You mean, as a team? Are you saying that you want me to be your partner?"

Jenna smiled. "Why not? What do you say?"

Biyomon smiled slowly, then shook Jenna's hand. "Deal."

-RICK-

They reached the center of the village an hour later, where they could see a large figure standing before a wooden house.

"Ninja Blade!" The figure called as a ghostly blue flame surrounded the long sword he carried. With a single slash, he set the entire building on fire.

"I'm gonna guess that's our guy?" Swimmon deduced.

b**DIGIMON ANALYZER**/b

_Biyomon: Yep, Musyamon is a Champion level ninja Digimon. Usually he's an honorable soul, but this guy is pure evil. He'll use his Ninja Blade attack to turn his foes to ash, or simply use his Shogun Sword to launch a fire dragon to attack!_

"Musyamon!" Rick called, stepping forward. "You've terrorized countless villages, and attacked my friends. I will not stand for it any longer!"

Musyamon turned to glance at him, his reddish armour glinting in the dappled light. "A human? You've got a lot of nerve to try and challenge me! I'll cleave you apart with a single blow!"

With a roar, the swordsman rushed toward them, covering the distance with alarming speed. He reached them in seconds, his blade already flashing toward Rick.

"Ninja..."

-ALEX-

As Alex stood there, trying to feign confidence despite his fear, he almost didn't notice the tingling at the back of his neck, but he couldn't miss the bolt of lightning.

It jutted down, forking into two points as it fell. One end struck Alex, the other, Falcomon. Instead of harming them, however, it filled both with a warm glow of energy.

With a burst of light, Alex's digivice came to life, text running across the screen.

"What's going on?" Alex called in confusion.

"That lightning and your determination has activated the digivolution function!" Falcomon called. "Quickly, point it at me and focus your will to win!"

Alex nodded, holding the digivice out straight, the light becoming even brighter.

bDIGIVOLUTION ONLINE/b

"Falcomon, digivolve to..."

A bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky, striking Falcomon and covering his body with energy. His wings grew into powerful arms, his taloned feet transforming into hooves. He grew taller, his upper body becoming more humanoid, with ram horns curling back from his head. Finally, a red scarf wrapped around his neck, causing the lightning to disperse.

"AEGIOMON!"

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Impmon: Whoa, that's one serious powerhouse! Aegiomon is a Champion level Digimon who controls the power of lightning. His Iron Thrust is a slamming hoof attack with the power to break through steel, and his Stun Beat Blow electrifies his entire body to unleash a barrage of lightning-enforced blows!_

-RICK-

The sword flashed down, about to strike the unarmed boy.

"_Rick!_" Alisa screamed, trying to rush forward.

As the blade descended, Rick glanced at his partner and nodded. Then he lifted his digivice, light flashing from it.

**DIGIVOLUTION ONLINE**

"Coronamon, digivolve to..."

A ray of sunlight caused the ground at Coronamon's feet to burst into flames, covering his body. He bent over, becoming quadruped, and increasing in size. His paws became vicious claws as wings burst from his back. A mane grew around his neck as his crown grew larger, his face becoming that of a lion.

"FIRAMON!"

With a roar of power, Firamon caught the falling blade on a bronze wing, sending shockwaves through Musyamon.

"So, you are a Tamer after all," Musyamon mused. "Perhaps you will present a slight challenge after all."

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Lunamon: Is my brother awesome or what? Firamon is a Champion Digimon who definitely lives up to the title King of the Jungle. His Flame Dive attack is as brilliant as a falling meteor, while his Fira Bomb creates the real thing!_

"Alright Musyamon, you asked for this!" Rick called, mounting Firamon's back. "So now we're gonna show you what the power of our teamwork can do!"

-ALEX-

"Spinning Needle!" Airdramon launched its air attack once again, but Aegiomon simply batted it aside.

"How dare you enter this sacred place with evil intent!" Aegiomon called. "In the name of Lord Jupitermon, I will banish you back to the data from which you came!"

With a thrust of his legs, Aegiomon rocketed into the air, flipping around so that his hooves were pointed toward Airdramon.

"Iron Thrust!" He called, slamming his hooves into the dragon's face hard enough to fracture the skull which it wore. The two fell to the earth with a crash.

"You've got this, Aegiomon! Finish him off!" Alex cried. Aegiomon nodded, electricity gathering around his body.

"Stun..." He rushed forward, kicking Airdramon up into the air.

"Beat..." Hooves and fists flashed out, lashing with hits enhanced with electricity.

"Blow!" with a final thrust, he drove his fist directly at the Digimon's head, shattering it into data. The floating energy was quickly absorbed into Aegiomon's body, while a single digi-egg fell to the ground, eventually to be reborn-hopefully-into a purified form of Airdramon.

-RICK-

"Fira Bomb!"

Firamon took to the air, firing flaming comets from his crown at Musyamon. The swordsman parried most of them but took a few hits in the process.

"You cannot hope to defeat me with flames!" Musyamon chortled. "Shogun Sword!"

His blade glowed with blue flame once more, but this time when he slashed, the silhouette a brilliant blue dragon burst from the tip.

"Rick, jump off!" Firamon called. "This is about to get hot!"

As the lion Digimon swooped low, Rick leaped free, grabbing ahold of a nearby branch to stop his momentum.

"Flame Dive!" Firamon roared, a wreathe of flame surrounding his body. He rushed forward to collide with the dragon, the impact creating an explosion of black smoke.

When the smog cleared, the two Digimon were still standing, but both had taken substantial damage. Firamon was panting, while Musyamon's sword hand wobbled.

"We are nearly matched in power, but I am still stronger than you," Musyamon gloated. "What trick can you pull out now to defeat me?"

Before anyone could respond, Musyamon was tackled by a giant dog. The creature wrestled Musyamon to the ground, pinning it easily.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Swimmon: Hey, where did Dobermon come from? He's a Champion level Digimon packing some serious firepower. His Gray Noise and Black Beam techniques can tear through foes like a knife through hot butter!_

"Quit messing around, Dobermon," A voice called. Rick looked over to see that the source of the voice was a young man with longer black hair.

"Hey, you're that guy who was watching us through the window this morning!" Noah accused. "Who are you and how did you get here?"

The boy ignored him, keeping his attention on the wrestling Digimon. He pulled a small object from a pouch at his waist and slid it into the side of his digivice, which appeared to be mounted to a band on his wrist instead of free.

"Digital Advance," He said simply. "MetalMamemon's Metal Smart Bomb."

Dobermon began glowing with a strange outline, before leaping into the air. It opened its mouth and launched a reddish orb which exploded, reducing Musyamon to data.

"Scan data," The boy called, holding out his arm. The data collected and entered his digivice, before transforming into what appeared to be another small card.

"What the-" Jenna tried to speak. "How...what...what did you just do?"

The boy looked up sharply. "This was a one-time thing, remember that. Even with a Champion, I could tell you didn't have the strength to defeat Musyamon."

"Well, you've got nerve, kid," Firamon growled. "I could have defeated him in half a second if I wanted to."

"Believe what you want," The boy shrugged. "But just know that I won't be stepping in the next time you get overwhelmed-not until you prove yourselves worthy."

"Isaac," Dobermon spoke up. "It is time to leave."

The boy turned and began walking away, Dobermon at his heels. "As annoying as it is to say it, I sincerely hope that we meet again. That will mean that this world still has hope," He turned back for a moment. "Also, if you want to find your friends, I suggest you head to Codon City. Farewell."

And with that, he vanished into the woods.

-ANNA-

As they walked down the secret passage Falcomon had shown them, Anna tried to make sense of what had happened today. She and her friends had been thrown into this world of transforming monsters and fallen gods, and were already beginning to understand what was happening. She wasn't sure whether that should thrill or terrify her.

"Don't worry, Anna," Mikemon assured her, wrapping a gloved paw around her hand. "I know this is confusing, but really, being in the Digital World can be an amazing adventure!

Anna was hesitant. "It's not that, I'm just worried about how my mom is feeling. It's almost night time now and I'm sure she's worried by now."

"I'm sure we'll be able to get you back to her," Mikemon promised. "What about your dad?"

Anna was quiet for a moment. "I don't...have a dad any more..."

"Oh, sorry," Mikemon said. "I didn't know..."

"It's okay, I didn't know him that long," Anna shrugged. "Do you have a dad?"

"I don't know," Mikemon replied. "I was born from a digi-egg in the middle of a forest; I don't even know if I have parents."

"I guess we're kinda the same then," Anna smiled. "Come on, let's keep going."

-X-

They reached the bottom of the steps hours later, after much exhaustion and complaining-mostly on Bree's end-and Anna was glad to see the ground again.

"This is where we part ways," Falcomon nodded. "If you should ever need assistance again, let me know. I wouldn't mind working with you again."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're going back on our deal?"

"Our deal was that I would bring you here. To become your partner, you needed to defeat me in combat; a task which you never completed. Besides, I am the only one capable of protecting the temple. I cannot leave my post; you saw that it was attacked today."

"I don't think it attacked because of the temple," Gareth noted. "I think it was because of us."

Falcomon snorted. "And what makes you so important?"

"All of us, yourself included," Gareth explained. "Impmon said humans haven't traveled to the Digital World in a very long time, and I suspect that force attracted Airdramon to attack us."

"And you're saying that because one Digimon came to Jupitermon's temple without intent to destroy it, that means none will come to do so?"

"No," Gareth shook his head. "You don't need to protect the temple because Jupitermon can do it himself."

There was silence, until Falcomon finally demanded, "Explain yourself."

"Well Jupitermon seems to parallel the human world's mythical Roman god, Jupiter," Alex picked up. "Jupiter was the god of the sky, with his greatest weapon being the lightning we see in the sky, so I'm assuming Jupitermon governs those things as well."

"Exactly," Gareth nodded. "It was a bolt of lightning that brought us here to the Digital World."

"And it was lightning that struck you just as you digivolved," Alex continued.

"You're saying Jupitermon brought you here and gave us the power to fight as a sign that we are meant to be partners?" Falcomon clarified.

"Precisely," Gareth nodded. "I think it's a sign that he wants you to go with us."

Falcomon pondered those words then grinned, as much as one can grin with a beak. "Well, it would be nice to get out and stretch my wings, I suppose."

Alex smiled, holding his hand out. "So it's a deal?"

The Digimon shrugged. "I must be crazy." He reached out a clawed hand and shook. "But yes, it's a deal."

"Alright!" Alex cheered. "Next stop, Codon City!"

**FIN**

**AN: This may be the longest chapter I have ever written for a story. Honestly, I'll have to go back and compare later...but that takes effort.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and would love to hear your feedback. Did you love it? Hate it? Are you pairing people up in your heads yet? (I know I am, but then again, I wrote it, and half of the people involved haven't been introduced yet.)**

Next time on Digimon Excel:

_Will always heard stories about the Digital World from his mother, but never believed it was real until he was taken there by some strange power. Now, in a strange place known as Codon City, he must learn about this new world alongside his bullied partner, as well as discover the secrets of a team of cat burglars, a detective who's story doesn't quite add up, and a boy who claims to be receiving visions from a god. You won't want to miss chapter three of Digimon Excel!_


	3. The Will To Forgive! Enter The Mason!

**Welcome to chapter three! It's good to see that I've held the interest of at least one person past the first two chapters.**

**Reminder Note: In this story, Armor Digimon can have level equivalents to Digimon from Rookie to Mega level, as will be the case with one character introduced in the chapter. No spoilers though!**

_Anna: Previously on Digimon Excel, Alex and our team met Mikemon and Gazimon, who became partners with myself and Bree. We went to the Temple of Jupiter and met Falcomon, who agreed to become Alex's partner and help us get off the mountain if Alex could defeat him in a one-on-one brawl. Before they could finish, Airdramon showed up and attacked. Alex and Falcomon teamed up, letting Falcomon digivolve to Aegiomon and defeat the dragon. Falcomon finally realized that he and Alex were destined to be partners and joined him._

_Meanwhile, Noah and Jenna met Rick and Alisa, along with their partners and Noah's partner Swimmon. After being attacked by a group of Troopmon, Biyomon came to protect them and joined forces with Jenna. She explained that Musyamon was controlling the Troopmon, so Rick digivolved Coronamon into Firamon to fight him. When it was clear that Musyamon still had the upper hand, Isaac and Dobermon stepped in and destroyed him with some sort of strange upgrade card. This world is getting stranger by the minute, but that makes it that much more exciting!_

* * *

-WILL-

It had been two weeks since seventeen year-old William Cain entered the Digital World, but he remembered it like it was yesterday. He had touched down on the outskirts of a huge city which he would soon call his home.

When the lightning deposited on a hill near Codon City, a massive commotion had been taking place. The first thing he saw after getting up was a mob of strange creatures attacking a smaller one.

"Nobody wants you here!" A green lizardlike being wearing a brass horn declared. "Get out of town before we stomp you!"

"Yeah!" Barked the one next to him-a bipedal blue dog wearing a red headband and boxing gloves. "This city is at peace; we don't want you bringing us bad luck!"

In the midst of the group, the creature they were harassing could be seen. It resembled a large hamster with purple fur, a cream underbelly, and twin purple bat wings extending from where its ears should have been. It was bruised and scratched all over from where the other creatures had thrown objects at him.

"Dark Digimon!" Cried one which appeared to be wearing a kendo uniform.

"Somebody ought to delete you!" snarled a bearlike creature wearing a hat.

Will finally couldn't take it any more. He ran over, fists raised in the air.

"That's enough!"

The creatures turned to him with a mixture of confusion and anger.

"Stay out of this, human," The gecko creature warned. "Why are you outside the city anyway? You clearly aren't a Tamer."

Will looked himself over for a second. Maybe his brown hair was a bit overlong, his red T-shirt and black jacket slightly wrinkled, but that was no reason to be so rude to him.

Then again, these were foreign creatures in a world he had never seen before. He had no clue how things worked here.

But that was no reason to let them bully one of their own. "I don't care if I'm a Tamer or not, I'm not going to let you attack an innocent creature just because he's a...Dark Digimon or whatever. So just back off."

"Or what?" The dog creature demanded.

Will bent over, looking the creature straight in the eye. "Or I'll make sure not a single one of you leaves this place without a broken bone or six."

The dog was unfazed. "You expect me to believe you'll back up that threat?"

Will's response was to punch him in the face, sending him tumbling back several feet.

"Yeah," He growled. "I do."

The others backed off, a mixture of awe and shock on their faces. It was obvious that the hit had caught them totally off-guard. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of Will's stomach, but he made no move to back away. And miraculously, the group began to step back away from their victim.

"You'll regret that, human," The dog muttered, standing slowly. "Sticking up for a monster in Codon City isn't going to earn you any friends."

Will spat. "The only monster I see here is the one I'm looking at. Now get lost or I'm not going to pull back after the first hit next time."

The crowd dispersed, muttering as they went. Once they were gone, Will turned to the creature on the ground.

"What's your name?" He asked it quietly.

"Tsukaimon," The creature responded. "Why did you help me?"

Will lifted him up gingerly, trying not to hurt him further. "I saw that they were picking on you and it made me angry. I don't like it when people are bullied."

"Well thank you," Tsukaimon sighed. "That group comes in and attacks any Digimon like me who try to enter the city. They call us Dark Digimon because we have the possibility to become monsters when we digivolve, so they fear and hate us."

"I don't know what Digimon or digivolving are," Will admitted," But I promise I won't let them hurt you again. Is there somewhere nearby that we can treat these wounds?"

Tsukaimon thought about it. "In the city there's a pharmacist who deals in herbs and medicines. I'm sure he'd help us and give us a place to stay."

"Then that's where we'll go," Will decided. He lifted Tsukaimon until he sat atop his head. The small Digimon had one last question.

"You said you don't know about Digimon, does that mean you came here from the Human World?"

Will shrugged. "I guess I did. Is that important?"

The Digimon was quiet for a moment. "It might be...I'm not quite sure yet. My brain's all fuzzy."

"Let's get you that medicine, then you can bother with thinking," Will promised.

"That sounds nice," Tsukaimon nodded. With that, the two of them set off.

-?-

The heist had gone off exactly as planned, and the two criminals were now dashing through the streets to secure their treasure.

"We certainly brought in a haul tonight," The tall one cackled. "We'll eat like kings for a week with all this treasure."

"More like queens, you mean," Her small partner purred.

"I suppose that's true," The tall one admitted.

They relaxed their pace, relatively certain that they had escaped any pursuers. As they continued through the alleys, a bright flash caught the small one's attention.

"Hold on, I want to check something out," She held up a paw. Her partner nodded and they ducked around a corner.

Lying on the ground in the center of the street was a girl with ebony hair and skin so pale it could have been paper. She wore a green blouse and pair of blue jeans, and was obviously not in the best condition.

"A human falling from the sky?" The tall one questioned. "Seems a little suspicious to me."

"Don't be such a worrywart," The small one disregarded the thought. "She could be useful...let's bring her with us!"

"If you insist," The tall robber shrugged, lifting the girl up onto her shoulder. "I sure hope you know what you're doing."

The small one purred with a grin, a black tail swishing out behind her.

"Trust me, I do."

**13 SEPTEMBER, ONE WEEK LATER**

-WILL-

The diner was a bustle of activity as Will came to the front counter. In one corner, a Snimon had left deep gouges in a table with its scythes, and was now being chastised by one of the Burgermon staff members.

Across the room, Shurimon was attempting to balance three trays at once as he slowly made his way to a table surrounded by a pack of Monochromon who had been baying for their meal for twenty straight minutes.

"Seems pretty chaotic out there," Noted Meramon, the head chef. "You sure you can handle waiting tables, greenflame?"

Will nodded confidently. "If I don't do it, who else will? And besides, I'm tired of coming home every night with grease burns all over my arms."

"It was hardly my fault the fryer exploded," Meramon pouted.

"Easy there, I'm not blaming you. Besides, shouldn't you be working? I can't serve up the food until you make it."

Meramon snapped a salute and turned back to the grill behind him. He inspected a set of hamburgers to determine whether they were finished cooking, and upon realizing that they weren't, he simply placed a hand on them and instantly finished the job.

"It would be nice to be heatproof," Will chuckled, before turning back to his waiting customers. "Well, here goes nothing."

-X-

The dinner rush was finally beginning to die down as Will finished wiping down the counters several hours later. It had been a hard shift, but it had been worth putting in all his effort.

"You're doing well, Will," Commented Mr. Amara as he came to the front of the room. "Not even here for a week and you're already one of the most popular employees."

Amara was a big man who loved cooking, making the perfect choice for running a restaurant. He had a full head of hair thanks to data implants he'd gotten when it had begun to thin out, and wore a chef's outfit to complete the look.

Will bowed in thanks. "I'm guessing it would be preemptive to ask if this was about a raise?"

Amara chuckled. "I can't start paying you extra quite yet-favoritism kills a restaurant faster than data corruption. As long as you're planning to stick around, maybe at the end of the month, eh?"

"Not many other places I can go with Tsukaimon still healing," Will shrugged.

"How is that little puffball anyway?" Amara asked. "I haven't seen him since he was in here trying to fly and broke a stack of dishes."

"Hasn't tried it since, so you can rest easy there," Will assured him.

Amara laughed, trickling off after a bit. "Say, I know you're always talking about how you came from the homeland, and I've been wondering, if you ever do find a way back there, would you mind taking me with you for a visit?"

"I'll have to see about that," Was Will's response as he finished off the last counter. "Well, stay safe tonight. I'm finished up here."

"Get some rest, you hear? I expect to see you working just as hard tomorrow as you did today."

"I'll do what I can," Will nodded. He turned and walked out, placing a black cap on his head as he went.

Codon City was even more beautiful at night than it was during the day, with all the lights of the buildings illuminating things. The white walls seemed to shine with an inner light, which may very well have been what was happening, considering that everything around him was digital.

He turned a corner into a part of the city without quite so much light. Here, the walls were drab, not maintained as well as the major sections of the city. It was sad to see that in a digital world there were still slums and poverty, when the people could be helping one-another.

Unfortunately, this was also the only section of the city where he'd been able to find a place to stay. There were many more Digimon in the city than humans, and they seemed to live in a parallel society, only intermingling in Tamer partnerships. This often meant that the humans got the short end of the stick in most situations.

As he turned a corner on his way home, a figure bumped into him, sending them both sprawling.

"Sorry!" Will gibbered. "I didn't see you as I was turning."

To his surprise, the person whom he had knocked over-a human girl, he could tell-jumped up with fear in her eyes.

"Err, are you okay?" Will asked cautiously. "Are you hurt? I can help if you-"

"Stay away from me!" The girl snapped, stepping back. "Y-you aren't supposed to see me!"

"Hey, it's alright," Will flailed his hands. "I'll let you keep going, pretend I didn't see you or something. Will that help?"

The girl looked at him suspiciously. "Really?"

"Sure. We humans have to look out for one another, right?" He stepped aside to let her pass. "My name is Will, by the way."

The girl hesitated, as though she was about to reply with her own name, but shook her head and pulled up the collar of the coat she wore. "I have to go."

Without another word, she rushed away down the alley.

Will stared after her for a few moments, before finally shrugging. "She obviously had somewhere important to be. I should be getting home."

And he walked off down the street, thinking no more of it.

-X-

"Will, wake up!" Tsukaimon called, nudging his head against the covers lightly. "Come on Will, you're gonna be late for work!"

The droopy boy slowly sat up, looking around. It was still a shock each morning to wake up in this strange room, but he hoped to grow used to it eventually.

"Can I come to work with you today?" Tsukaimon asked. "My bruises are pretty much faded now, and I can fly again; I've been practicing since yesterday."

"Sure," Will yawned. His partner cheered, doing a flip in midair as they hopped out of bed together. Will slumped over to the bathroom to get ready for the morning while Tsukaimon prepared waffles.

"Remember, wait to brush until after you eat," The Digimon called. "Otherwise you'll have that awful minty syrupy taste in your mouth all day."

Will took the advice and hurried out to eat. The waffles were good, though it was obvious that they had been defrosted from a package. Will finished his portion quickly and was soon preparing for the day.

Ten minutes later, the two were walking (Or in Tsukaimon's case, flying) through the streets to the cafe where Will worked. They weren't prepared for the sight that greeted them.

The front of the building showed obvious signs of breaking and entering, with several windows shattered and the door hanging loosely on the frame. Will noticed Jijimon, the night custodian sitting on a bench out front looking extremely disoriented.

"What's going on here?" Will demanded, approaching Jijimon.

"I...uh...I dunno..." Jijimon muttered in confusion. "There were these three ladies...said they needed to borrow the phone...and then one of them looked at me with these big yellow eyes and then...nothing."

Will thanked him and moved along, continuing to question the investigators at the scene.

"We had a witness who believes he saw the intruders before they reached the restaurant," A Deputymon explained. "A shorter figure, most likely the Digimon who hypnotized Jijimon, as well as two taller figures. He said the taller ones could have been humans, or perhaps humanoid Digimon, and definitely seemed to be female. He was unable to make out faces, however, so it isn't much of a lead."

After asking all around, Will thanked the Digimon and stepped off to the side. Thoughts raced through his head as though they were cargo on a freight train. Who were these intruders? Why would they attack a restaurant of all places when there were jewelers and banks all along the same area?

And most importantly, in Will's mind, could that strange girl be involved? She had seemed to be in a hurry, and was very distressed that he saw her.

"Quite the predicament," Another figure declared, striding up. This new person was clearly human, but obscured a majority of his features with a black coat and fedora, along with a purple scarf around his mouth and nose.

"This is only the latest in a chain of robberies which has occurred in the last few weeks," The man continued. "Each location was totally random-a supermarket, a toy store, even a barber shop. So we can deduce that either they are incompetent and inexperienced, or they are trying to feign such an air in order to throw us off."

"Right..." Will nodded. "Err, sorry, but who are you?"

The man tipped his hat with a mysterious flair. "My name...is of little importance, but you may call me...the Mason. Yes, I quite like that. And that babbling white Digimon over there is my partner, Gargoylemon."

Will looked over where the man indicated to see a white winged Digimon who honestly didn't much resemble a gargoyle.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Tsukaimon: Gargoylemon is pretty strong for a Rookie level Armor Digimon. He attacks with his white and black Statue attacks. Black Statue freezes his body in black energy which is essentially impenetrable but leaves him immobile while in use. In contrast, White Statue launches a clone made of light from his body to strike his foe._

"We joined the case for these two just after the last robbery prior to this one," The Mason admitted. "But we already know all the info on this trio. If only we could get better descriptions of them we might have a base to start from."

Will contemplated for a moment mentioning the girl he had seen, but ultimately decided against it. The attackers had been in a trio, right? A lone girl would have nothing to do with such a group.

"I've just had an idea," Mason declared. "You were an employee at the restaurant? I could use a Tamer like you to help me out. What do you say?"

Well that was rather abrupt. Will pondered the question for a minute. Maybe this could be why he was brought to this world, to help solve the problems of others. But could he live up to the challenge?

"C'mon, Will, it's not like you'll have anything else to do until Mr. Amara reopens."

"I suppose you have a point," Will nodded. "Alright detective, let's see what we can do."

**19 SEPTEMBER, SIX DAYS LATER**

-LAUREN-

The hit on Digital Eats had been Lauren's first big gig in this place, and she had supposedly pulled off her part flawlessly.

So why did she have a sinking pit of worry in her stomach?

It had something to do with that boy she had run into, she was sure. It seemed obvious that he knew what she was doing, in fact, he was an employee at the very place they had robbed! But he hadn't even reacted that night. Had he really not suspected what she was doing rushing around?

"Lauren, hurry up," BlackGatomon called from the other room. "It's nearly time for our next hit!"

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Lauren: BlackGatomon is a Rookie level Dark Digimon with an eye for anything that sparkles. She prefers to avoid confrontation-curiosity killed the cat, after all-but can hold her own with her Lightning Paw and Cat's Eyes techniques._

BlackGatomon had been the one to find her when she came to this world. She had gone from hungry and cold to living in decent comfort. A true rags to-admittedly stolen-riches tale.

"You both remember your parts?" Confirmed Witchmon, BlackGatomon's partner. She was taller than Lauren, though that could have been an illusion from her pointy hat. She pointed the end of her broom at Lauren as she entered.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_BlackGatomon: Witchmon is a powerful sorcerer who specializes in wind and water magic. She is formidible in a fight with her magical techniques Baluluna Gale and Aquary Pressure, but she would prefer to vanish without a trace on her magic broom._

"It's time for the, ah, second trial of your faith. Help us out tonight and I may consider keeping you with us. But fail, and you're out, no matter what BlackGatomon says."

And that truly was the question, wasn't it? Was she set on becoming a criminal? Witchmon had made it clear there were no hard feelings if she dropped out, but where would she go? She had no exceptional skills to put her ahead in this kind of city.

No, she would have to stay with Witchmon and BlackGatomon until she could afford to get away from the city without starving to death.

The plan for tonight was a simple break-in, a job that should take no more than an hour. Only this time, Lauren would be going in on her own.

The three padded softly across the roof, each being sure to move low and fast. As none of the clothing she had when she came to this world had been great for stealth, Lauren wore a long-sleeved black shirt and pants over the same clothes she had come to this world in. The idea was that if she was spotted, she could swap clothing to disguise herself.

They reached the jewelry store twelve minutes before midnight and began preparations. A coil of rope would be used to lower Lauren through a skylight-after the alarm was disabled, of course-in order to grab any valuable items she was in reach of. Then they would retreat to their base a few blocks over.

As BlackGatomon prepared the rope, Lauren looked down in mingled anticipation and terror. Doing this would solidify her role as a thief. Was that a step she was willing to take?

The rope was secured, both to an overhanging post and to herself. Before she could second-guess herself, she was already being lowered through the open sky light.

"White Statue!"

a searing pain slammed into her side, severing the rope and throwing her to the edge of the building. Through fuzzy eyes she could see the mystery detective who had been following her partners since their last heist.

"End of the line, ladies," The Mason declared, stepping toward them. "I'm bringing you in on counts of breaking and entering, theft, and assault. I'd prefer it if you came quietly."

"Not gonna happen," Witchmon declared. "Aquary Pressure!" She raised her hand and fired a blast of water at the pair. "Get out of here, kid!"

Lauren nodded weakly, squirming her way to the edge. She threw herself down onto the store's awning, then awkwardly rolled to the ground. A searing pain in her left arm told her she hadn't landed quite as softly as she'd hoped.

"Lightning Paw!" She could hear BlackGatomon call from above, followed by a roar from Gargoylemon.

_They're going to be fine,_ she thought. _But I need help. That attack hit me pretty hard, and I'm in no shape to try taking care of it myself._

She staggered down the street further, thinking furiously about where she could go. The only place anywhere nearby was...Will's place. She had scoped it out for Witchmon in case she needed to track the boy down after the job last week.

It was better than nothing, and hopefully she would be able to convince him to help her. Assuming he didn't have her arrested first.

-WILL-

The knock at the door was unexpected, as it was well past midnight. Will slowly climbed out of bed and began to trudge toward the door.

Tsukaimon got there first, peeking through the spyhole in the door. "There's a girl out there Will. Looks like you're getting pretty popular in town."

Will ignored him, stepping over to open the door. As soon as he did so, the girl collapsed against the frame, gasping.

"Please," she panted, "I need your help."

-X-

The arm was swollen from her fall, sprained if she was lucky, broken if she wasn't. He was no doctor and couldn't examine it well.

"You said Gargoylemon hit you with his White Statue attack?" He confirmed. "Where?"

"My side," Lauren muttered. "Same as the arm."

"I'm going to have to take a look at it, see if there's any bleeding I need to stop," Will explained. "Try to stay calm."

Lauren blushed a bit, but nodded. Will lifted the shirt from the side, finding that the blouse underneath was also quite shredded. As he'd feared, there was a long scorch mark straight across her ribs, deep red and bleeding.

"I don't have the tools to treat this," He explained, "But I know a guy who might be able to help more. All I can do for now is wrap it."

When there was no objection, he went and grabbed a roll of bandages, using them to gently wrap the wound, trying to be gentle in case the ribs were broken.

"Why are you helping me?" Lauren asked suddenly. "I robbed the place where you work, which means you don't have a job for now. Why haven't you called in the Mason and Gargoylemon to take me away?"

Will considered the question. "When I first came to this city, I helped someone out who was being attacked just because Digimon like him tended to be evil. I stood up for him and cared for him until he was better," He grinned. "And now the two of us are partners."

Lauren looked over at Tsukaimon, a look of understanding passing over her face.

"So that's why," Will nodded. "Because I feel like you just need a chance."

Lauren nodded softly, but another question formed in her head. "You said 'when you came here.' By any chance, did you come from-"

A knock at the door startled her. Voices were heard from the other side, clearly those of the Mason and Gargoylemon.

"I forgot to lock the door after I brought you in," Will hissed. "If he walks in and sees you covered in bandages, we're had."

But Lauren was a quick thinker. "Quick, pull of your shirt and climb into the bed."

_"What?"_ Will asked in shock. "Why-"

"Just trust me!" Lauren glanced frantically at the door. Will shrugged and did so, climbing into bed beside her.

"Sorry about this, in advance," Lauren whispered. "Try to act surprised." Just as the door opened, she pulled Will into a kiss.

There was no need for acting on his part. Will simply sat there for a few seconds, brain seeming to grind to a halt.

"Oh, whoops," The Mason's voice came from the hallway. Lauren shrieked, pulling the covers up over herself, skillfully hiding the torn shirt and bandages.

"Do you have a key to my apartment now or something?" Will demanded, realizing what Lauren's plan was and trying to go along with it.

"The door was unlocked..." The Mason explained awkwardly. "I'm, uh, guessing that now is a bad time? I was hoping to update you on the case."

"Let's do this outside; give me a few minutes," Will frowned. "And this had better be important."

The Mason nodded, stepping back out. Will turned to Lauren with a grin on his face.

"Quick thinking," He complimented. "You seem like you've done that before."

"First time, actually," Lauren confessed. "I figured that would be the easiest way to draw away suspicion."

Will nodded, pulling his shirt back on and heading to the door. He closed it behind him, turning to the Mason, plastering an annoyed expression on his face.

"Sorry about that again," The Mason bowed. "But you ought to know, there was another attempted robbery a few hours ago. "I have identified the thieves as a Witchmon, BlackGatomon, and a human. The Digimon escaped, but the human was injured; she's probably still on the streets."

"You don't want me to go look for her right now, do you?" Will asked. He pointed a thumb back toward the door. "I'm kind of preoccupied tonight."

"So I see," The Mason nodded. "She your girlfriend or something? That's fast, considering you've only been here for two weeks."

"Something like that," Will nodded. "Don't worry though, I'll keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. You said she was injured?"

"Took a hit from Gargoylemon's White Statue," The Mason nodded. "I feel a bit bad, to be honest; he hits hard."

Gargoylemon shrugged. "It was an accident, really. I was only trying to cut the rope she was hanging from."

_He hits hard? no kidding,_ Will thought. "Right, well I'll let you get back to the investigation then."

"And you to your...activities," The Mason turned away, Gargoylemon following behind him. Once the two were out of sight, Will re-entered the apartment. As he did, a thought occurred to him.

_How did the Mason know I've been here for two weeks? I've always told people I've been here for a month, moving between villages until I came here._

He looked back suspiciously. "Could it be possible that...no, not a chance. He's been around for years, people have known him forever."

So why did he get the suspicion that the scarf-wearing solo detective knew more than he was letting on?

-LAUREN-

The next morning, Will took her to see Floramon, the herbalist who he had taken Tsukaimon to see. He had bought her new clothing to replace what she'd lost-a new green blouse, a slim black overcoat, and a pair of boots to match.

"That's quite the scraping up you took," Floramon tsked as she looked her patient over. "The wrist is sprained, not broken thankfully. You didn't get off quite so lucky with the ribs-you managed to crack three of them-and I can't stitch up the wound because of the burning. We'll just need to use disinfectant, burn ointment and gauze, then hope for the best. I'm afraid this will probably leave quite the scar as it heals, even with my best efforts."

Lauren nodded. "I deserve that, honestly. Shouldn't have gotten involved in something stupid."

There was a sudden outburst and Floramon turned. "Hold that thought while I check on one of my other patients."

"Lord Bacchusmon!" The voice called. "I hear your voice, can't you hear mine in return?"

"Please Carter, calm down," Another voice pleaded. "Bacchusmon isn't really here; you're not well."

"Anything I can do to help?" Will asked.

"Not with this one, I'm afraid," Floramon replied. "You know the rumors about the strange lightning which brought children here from the Human World two weeks ago? Monodramon, who brought him in claims that he's one of those, only the lightning did something to his mind."

Both Lauren and Will looked up sharply when she mentioned the children from the other world.

_There are others?_ Lauren thought. _I thought I was the only one..._

"The human boy, Carter, claims to be receiving visions from Bacchusmon of the Olympus Twelve," Floramon continued, "Which, of course, is impossible since Bacchusmon was destroyed fifteen years ago."

"Maybe he's being haunted by the guy's ghost?" Tsukaimon proposed.

"I highly doubt that," Floramon shook her head. "Digimon reformat into eggs when they die. They don't become ghosts unless their data is corrupted."

The door to the infirmary ward opened and a girl peeked her head in. She had brown hair tied up into a stylized bun and wore what appeared to be a mint green labcoat over a matching tank top accented with white stripes.

"Floramon, Jijimon is back," She informed the Digimon. "He needs more medicine for those leftover headaches from being hypnotized."

Floramon humphed. "That old coot's dosage ended two days ago. The only headaches he could still have are from old age!" She sighed. "But I suppose we should go a bit easy on him. The pills are in the third cabinet to the left, Daneca. Grab them while I see to Carter again."

The girl nodded and backed out of the room, while Floramon passed through the divider to the other end of the wing.

"So what do you plan to do once you're healed up?" Will asked conversationally. "Are you planning to go back to Witchmon and BlackGatomon, or try going straight?"

Lauren looked down. "Well it may be a bit silly, but I was thinking maybe I could stay with you and Tsukaimon for a bit. Would that be okay?"

Will nodded. "That would be perfect. Of course you can stay with us."

Lauren's heart fluttered a bit. Not only had she managed to befriend another human in this world, but one who understood her when anyone else would have turned her in, or at least denied her.

And he wasn't too bad-looking either...

Soon enough, Floramon cleared them to be released, instructing Will to replace her bandages every morning until the redness of the burn had cleared. They walked down the street arm-in-arm, talking about their lives before coming here.

"I have a little sister back home," She admitted. "Her name is Lilly, and she's only ten. I feel awful every day when I think about how long I've been gone from her."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to see her again," Will assured her. "Sure must be nice to have family. I'm an only child; my parents weren't too sure about the idea of having a family, but they figured they would see how it was raising me. They're great about everything, but I guess one was enough for them."

They continued in conversation, not even noticing as two figures walked up behind them. It wasn't until a hand was placed on Will's shoulder that they noticed that anything was amiss.

"Afternoon, you two," The Mason nodded as they turned. "We need to talk."

-WILL-

He was an idiot. Of all the rotten luck they could have, of course the Mason would notice them walking out of the medical bay. He had a description of Laura, knew that the robbery had taken place near Will's home, and somehow was aware how long they had been in the Digital World. It didn't take a genius to fit the pieces together, and for the Mason, a brilliant detective, it must have been child's play.

But there was a chance, though slim, that he didn't know. So Will tried to play cool.

"Something else come up on the case?" He asked, turning calmly.

"Don't play innocent-I know who she is," The Mason responded.

_Damn..._

"You need to think carefully about what you're doing here," The Mason informed him. "Even if she didn't commit the crimes herself, this girl was an accessory to robbery. You know I have to take her in."

"I'm giving her a chance," Will replied. "A chance for redemption. The only reason she was involved in the crimes at all was because Witchmon and BlackGatomon gave her little other option. She would have starved on the streets if she hadn't joined them."

"And yet you seemed to do just fine when you showed up," The Mason replied. "I know about your story, about how both of you got here."

"Because it's the same way you did?" Lauren asked.

The boys looked at her in surprise.

_This girl is more observant than she is given credit for,_ Will thought.

"I have been working in this area for years," The Mason countered. "I wasn't part of your little 'accident,' if that's what you're saying."

"But never in Codon," Will noted. "I read your file last night-you've only ever worked in smaller towns on the outskirts of the area. Why not come here, unless your past was forged? Or maybe the previous Mason wasn't bold enough to come here, but his mysterious new apprentice was all for jumping into the action?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," The detective denied.

Will stepped forward, getting right up in his face. "Who are you really, Mason? And why won't you admit that you're from the Human World like us?"

The Mason flung his arm out in rage, but Will ducked back to avoid it.

"If you refuse to turn her over to my custody, I'll be forced to arrest you too." He turned to Gargoylemon. "We're taking all three of them in."

"Not gonna happen," Will said, throwing his arms out wide. "Come on, Tsukaimon, let's take this guy."

His partner took to the air with a whirl, while he pulled his black and red Digivice Excel from his jacket pocket.

"You can't beat us with so little experience," The Mason laughed. He pulled his own digivice from his pocket, this one accented with orange, and prepared for an attack.

"Bad Message!" Tsukaimon called, firing a stream of darkness from his mouth.

"Black Statue," Gargoylemon growled, an ebony coating of stone surrounding his body. Tsukaimon's beam bounced straight off of it. "And now White Statue!"

Tsukaimon was sure to dodge the white silhouette as it raced toward him-he had learned from Lauren how painful it could be.

The Mason did not seem to be deterred. He pulled a small chip from his pocket and slid it into his digivice.

"Digital Advance," He called, "Ankylomon's Tail Hammer!"

An aura of energy surrounded Gargoylemon as his tail lengthened, a large metal spiked ball growing form the end. The larger Digimon raced toward Tsukaimon, swinging his tail out at him.

"You aren't the only one with neat tricks," Will called. He held his digivice out in front of him. "Now Tsukaimon!"

**DIGIVOLUTION ONLINE**

"Tsukaimon, digivolve to..."

An aura of shadows surrounded Tsukaimon, causing his body to stretch and grow. His wings moved to his shoulders, becoming larger and more enveloping. Humanoid arms and legs appeared, while twin horns grew from his head. With a flash of lightning, the evolution was finished.

"DEVIMON!"

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Gargoylemon: Devimon is a powerful Fallen Angel Digimon who attacks with shadows. His Death Hand fires a beam of concentrated darkness, and his Evil Wing attack rips the foe's data apart with powerful rage!_

Gargoylemon's technique struck, but Devimon was able to block it, moving back only a few feet from the blow.

"So you've unlocked the power of digivolution; I'm impressed," The Mason nodded. "But I will still bring you to justice, I swear it!"

"Tail Hammer!" Gargoylemon attacked again, this time breaking through Devimon's guard to strike at his chest.

"Stand strong, Devimon!" Will called.

Devimon nodded as his fist was surrounded by shadows. "Death Hand!" He fired a beam of blackness to hit Gargoylemon. The Rookie stumbled back, shaken but not falling.

By this point, citizens were gathering around to watch. Why were the ace detective and the waiter fighting one another? Who was that mysterious girl behind the waiter? And where had that Digimon protecting the two come from.

Then, from the back of the crowd came a voice which Will remembered far too well. It was a voice he hadn't heard for two weeks, and had been hoping never to hear again, but there it was.

"Look!" Shouted Gaomon, the same blue dog Digimon who Will had defended Tsukaimon from. "The boy Will has brought a Dark Digimon into the city! It's already turned on the Mason and now it's going to delete us all!"

The panic was instant. Digimon's screams could be heard along the entire block as they ran.

"The demon will destroy our entire city!" Geckomon declared. "We have to drive it out!"

The Digimon formed a large ring, some wielding weapons, others only their fists, but each one seemed determined to protect their city with their lives. Only a select few, the other workers at Amara's restaurant in particular, stood off to the sidelines, watching with fear, not because of Devimon, but because their friend was being threatened.

Finally, Will realized it was hopeless. So gently, he scooped Lauren up and placed her in Devimon's arms, before climbing onto his back.

"Guess we have no choice then," He nodded. "Let's get out of here, fast."

Without a word, Devimon lifted into the sky and flew off while the Mason looked on smugly. "The secret's safe," He muttered. "Now let's get back to tracking down those thieves."

-CARTER-

Bacchusmon was calling to him again, shaking him from sleep like an incessant mother.

"Hurry, Carter," His voice called. "Take Monodramon, Floramon and Daneca with you out of the city. You must join Will and the others."

"Will...the boy you told me about this morning?" Carter asked.

"Indeed," Bacchusmon confirmed. "They will need your help if you want to stop the evil spreading through the city."

"Then I guess we have to go," He decided. He rose, shaking Monodramon awake. "Hey, grab my wheelchair and call Dani in here. We need to go somewhere."

"Now?" Monodramon complained. "Please tell me this isn't about Bacchusmon again. I told you, he isn't real!"

"It doesn't matter," Carter shook his head. "That boy and girl who were in here this morning are in danger. We need to bring Dani and Floramon with us to help them."

"We can't leave now," Daneca protested, sticking her head through the doorway. "Floramon is still treating patients!"

Carter lowered himself into his wheelchair carefully, then looked up at her. "Dani, I've been here for two weeks and I've never asked to go outside. Please, do me this favor. For Will and Lauren."

Daneca raised an eyebrow. "How did you know their names? I only ever asked them at the front desk, and that was while you were having one of your...fits."

"That isn't important," Carter insisted. "We need to go to them, now!"

Daneca sighed. "Alright, fine. But this had better not be some kind of hallucination joke."

"Trust me," Carter swore, raising his hand in an oath position. "It's not."

**FIN**

**AN: The Mason is possibly going to be my favorite character to write later on. He's a sort of cross between a wannabe superhero and a coldhearted detective. He also has a pretty awesome backstory, but we'll get into that later.**

**I want to thank you guys again for putting up with this story and encourage you to review the chapter. Feedback, even if it is negative, allows me to improve the story as I go along, so don't be shy!**

Next time on Digimon Excel:

_Will, Lauren and Tsukaimon have been driven out of Codon City by the mysterious detective known only as the Mason, who seems to have much more to him than meets the eye. They are followed not only by Lauren's former employers, Witchmon and BlackGatomon, but also by Carter, Daneca, and their partner Digimon who seem to be following instructions from one of the Olympus Twelve._

_Meanwhile, Rick and Noah try to figure out the mysterious Digital Advance technique which Isaac used, but when the only option to make it work becomes clear, Noah throws himself into a challenge he may not be able to overcome. Will any of them succeed in their efforts? Will Lauren, Will and their friends escape the Mason? And what ever happened to Alex and the rest of his group? Find out on the next Digimon Excel!_


	4. A Forest Reunion--The Sorcerer Falls!

**I continue to be impressed that you guys keep coming back for my stories, or maybe you're just bored and want to read a Digimon fanfic. Or perhaps you are simply my secret stalker and read everything I write regardless of genre or the portion of the media world on which it is based.**

**In any case, I appreciate the support and hope to keep on seeing it!**

_Noah: Previously on Digimon Excel, Will came to the Digital World only to find Gaomon and several other Digimon picking on Tsukaimon. He stood up for the little guy and became his partner. The two started living in Codon City where Will worked in a restaurant until it was robbed._

_At the same time, Lauren was dropped into the world and straight into the arms of Witchmon and BlackGatomon who tried to convert her to a life of crime by robbing the very place where Will was working._

_After the robbery, the burgling trio tried another heist, but were stopped by a detective known as the Mason. Lauren got hurt, but luckily was able to go to Will for help. They went to Floramon and Daneca to have Lauren's injuries treated, where they met the apparently insane Carter and his partner Monodramon. Unfortunately, the Mason put two and two together and accused Will of treason. Tsukaimon digivolved to Devimon to fight Gargoylemon, but was driven out of town by the citizens. Yuck, this is just turning into one huge mess!_

* * *

-DANECA-

Her feet hurt.

Daneca knew that it took a long time to walk around the city, but she hadn't considered the hills, gullys, thorn bushes and tree roots that would be in the way. By the time Carter finally called for a rest, she literally slumped to the floor, feeling only the pain in her feet.

Carter, of course, hadn't walked a single step the entire time, due mostly to the fact that he was in a wheelchair. She couldn't help but feel envious of the paraplegic boy, but having known him for two weeks, she knew he deserved a rest after what he'd gone through.

Carter, Monodramon and Floramon were the only ones who knew that she was from the Human World just like the other kids who seemed to be popping up. They hadn't come together, but they met a few hours after it had happened. She had been alone and confused when she noticed Monodramon desperately trying to carry the boy into the city and had run to help. After Floramon learned what she had been through, she offered her a place to stay and work at the clinic. Carter was her main patient, but she helped wherever she could.

"How are you feeling?" Carter asked her, rolling to a stop. "I probably should have called for a break earlier, huh?"

"It's alright," Daneca lied. "I could keep going for hours."

"The blisters on your feet say otherwise," Carter joked. "I'll try to keep clear of the rougher terrain as best as I can, but this is the route Bacchusmon recommended."

Daneca sat up beside him. "I was just wondering, why are you so convinced that this voice you're hearing is Bacchusmon's?"

Carter considered the question. "When I first came here, I fell out of the sky and landed strangely, realized I was all alone and couldn't move my legs. I yelled, screamed for help, and something came to me.

"I saw this figure standing in the sky," He continued. "It was a man with a snake wrapped around his arm. He told me who he was and that he was going to guide me; explained that things were going to get hard, but that he would lead me right. I asked him what was going on and he promised to send someone to guide me. Afterwards, I woke up with an incredibly powerful smell of grapes in the air."

"Grapes?" Daneca asked.

"Bacchusmon's symbol is wine," Monodramon explained. "And therefore, grapes are one of his trademarks as well."

"So his voice comes into your head and guides you?" Floramon clarified. "That seems a bit...psychotic."

"But if he's basically a god, wouldn't he be able to send visions or something like that?" Daneca questioned.

"There are Digimon who can send dreams and visions, yes," Admitted Floramon, "But as far as I know, only Apollomon was ever big into prophetics."

"Well I'm sure it was him," Carter affirmed once more. Suddenly, he cocked his head to one side as though listening. Daneca felt the familiar churning in her stomach a a violet film misted over his eyes as it always did when "Bacchusmon" was talking to him. Floramon had initially assumed that it was a side effect from the portal he had passed through, but Daneca was becoming less and less convinced of that.

"Bacchusmon says...we're getting close to Will," Carter muttered. "We should get to them within a few hours."

Daneca sighed. She knew exactly what that meant.

More walking.

-WILL-

He needed to be strong for Tsukaimon; for Lauren. He needed to stay calm, collected and confident in his abilities.

But right now, Will was so furious that keeping control had become somewhat of a difficulty.

He had been driven out of the city which had taken him in by a detective who had worked with him for a week and the very citizens who inhabited it, just because his partner looked like a demon. Now he was a fugitive from the law, out in the forest with the escapee who he'd tried to help.

She also happened to be highly attractive.

Will shook his head. He couldn't have distractions as he made his plan. Lauren was asleep, recovering from the skirmish with Gargoylemon the night before, so he had this time to think.

The first priority, other than finding a new place to stay, was the Mason. There were more holes in the detective's story than Will had ever known at first. Why was it that the Mason had never come to the city until the same night the children from the Human World arrived? How was he so well-known, but still young and inexperienced?

The answer seemed obvious. Either the Mason was a clever ruse created by whoever hid behind the scarf, or this was some new generation child using the same title. Perhaps there had been many before this current one.

Either way, Will was almost certain that this latest detective was from the Human World. He knew far more than any of the Digital Immigrants could have known about that world. During the one scouting mission they had gone on together when a possible target for Witchmon's crew came under suspicion, he had begun to hum a song which Will knew had been released only a year prior. Only a select few Tamers were allowed to cross back into their original world under strict orders of secrecy, so all the others had been here for most, if not all of their lives. The Mason claimed he had never left the Digital World, so it was impossible that he could know that song.

Unless he had lied about his entire identity.

Will sighed. There was too much to the Mason for him to try to understand right now, so he moved on to his next concern, in the form of Witchmon and BlackGatomon. It seemed logical that the two would return in an attempt to reclaim

Lauren as soon as they heard that she had been driven out of the city. But unbeknownst to them, Lauren had made a vow that she was through with a life of crime. In fact, technically, she hadn't stolen anything during the heists in which she was involved, and wouldn't have if Witchmon hadn't pressured her. By that reasoning, one could argue that she was totally innocent of any crimes. Unfortunately, when Will had tried that, he ended up nearly having his face smashed in by a giant metal ball.

"That's another thing," He pondered aloud. "What was that chip the Mason put into his digivice? It seemed like it somehow upgraded Gargoylemon's body with that weapon. But how did he do it? What exactly is Digital Advance?"

-RICK-

"Digital Advance!" Noah called again, holding his digivice out in front of him. "Troopmon's Death March!"

As with the last hundred times he had tried, nothing happened. The redheaded boy slumped dejectedly as he walked.

Rick sighed. Noah was obsessed with figuring out the technique that Isaac kid had used to destroy Musyamon. Unfortunately, this obsession had lasted for two full weeks now.

Alisa drew even with him, her pace labored and sluggish.

"Do you think we could stop for a water break soon?" She asked. "We've been walking for hours and we're still not getting any closer to Codon City."

"Just a few more minutes, then we'll stop," Rick promised. "I'm sorry to have put you through this, sis. It isn't fair for any of us."

"It would be easier if I could figure out how to digivolve again," Coronamon noted. "Then we could just fly to the city!"

"Well it hasn't worked since we faced Musyamon, and that was weeks ago," Rick sighed. "Maybe it's because we haven't eaten a decent meal as long as we've been here, or it may only work when we're in danger."

"Those are usually the conditions required to digivolve," Lunamon agreed. "But unless we get a good meal soon, none of us will be strong enough to even think about digivolving."

"Don't worry guys," Biyomon chirped. "There's a village somewhere near here, I'm sure of it!"

"The same way you were sure when you led us into that Raremon den?" Jenna asked grumpily.

"That was just a little mistake," Biyomon declared defensively. "Besides, this is a very well-known area. If we don't find the village, we'll certainly bump into someone who knows exactly where it is."

"Or someone who wants to eat us," Noah added. He sighed as he walked, then pointed his digivice at Biyomon. "Scan data!"

Once more, nothing happened.

"This is getting old," Jenna sighed. "I say we call that break now, I have to go to the bathroom."

Rick nodded. "May as well take it now, I suppose. Go ahead."

Jenna nodded thankfully, and walked off.

"C'mon Rick," Noah spoke up the second she was gone," I have an idea."

"We're _not_ following her," Rick said with a sense of finality.

"What? That isn't at all what I was going to say," Noah argued. "I was just thinking that if we put our heads together, I'm sure we could figure out how this thing works."

Rick groaned. "Fine, if it'll get you to stop bringing it up every ten seconds, I'll help you figure out Digital Advance."

Noah saluted. "You're a good man. Now let's figure it out."

"Well first, we know that you need one of those little chips the guy had to make it work," Rick noted. "I remember he slid one in and called out a Digimon's name-MetalMamemon-then what I assume to be the attack's name."

"MetalMamemon's Metal Smart Bomb," Swimmon spoke up from within Noah's digivice. "It's MetalMamemon's signature attack, and causes a huge explosion."

"Sounds like what we saw," Noah nodded. "So the Digital Advance lets you use another Digimon's attack?"

"Right. And if that's right, then Isaac collected another one when he beat Musyamon," Rick continued. "Instead of having Dobermon load the data, he absorbed it into his digivice and another chip appeared."

"So that's how we collect them? By defeating Digimon?" Noah clarified, eyes glinting.

"That sounds like a double-edged sword," Alisa said, walking over. "Digimon get stronger by absorbing data, so if you made one of those chips, your partner wouldn't get experience from the battle."

Noah walked off to the side, looking around. "If we can get strong enough attacks from other Digimon, why would we need to get stronger?"

"Because if you don't Swimmon won't be able to digivolve as quickly," Rick explained. "Then again, since he hasn't digivolved yet at all, it wouldn't matter too much."

Noah was about to respond to that remark when a shriek suddenly sounded from off in the forest.

Rick's blood ran cold. He had heard that scream several times before; it was Jenna's.

-ALEX-

_Slap!_

He went down hard, not even realizing what had hit him for a second. It took him a bit to realize where he was again, propping himself up on one elbow to make sure it was Jenna he'd found and not some Digimon who looked like her.

"What was that for?" He asked distantly.

"For sneaking up on me and scaring me half to death!" Jenna declared, her cheeks a flushed pink.

"I didn't mean to scare you; couldn't you hear me coming?" Alex questioned.

"I was...concentrating on something else," Jenna admitted, her face going completely scarlet.

Realization hit Alex nearly as hard as Jenna had. "Ah, oh! Oh man, I'm really sorry! I didn't mean...do you want me to leave?"

"No, you idiot!" Jenna shook her head, kneeling down to hug him. "You guys vanish for weeks and leave Noah and I alone, and now you want to leave? Don't even think about it!"

"O-okay," Alex shrugged, even more confused. "So Noah is with you? Where is he now?"

"He and two other kids we met are back that way," Jenna pointed. "I'll take you to them; where's Anna?"

"The same," Alex indicated the direction he had come from. "I can go grab them quickly."

"Don't leave!" Jenna grabbed his arm. Realizing what she was doing, she quickly backed up. "I mean...I want to go with you. That way we can bring everyone together at once."

"Sure thing," Alex nodded. "Come on, Anna will be so glad to see you!"

The two walked off, not noticing that their entire conversation had been observed.

"Aww, how adorable," The unseen figure cooed from its cover behind a nearby tree. "It makes me sick to my stomach. Good thing those two will be dead soon enough!"

-JENNA-

Needless to say, Jenna had been mortified to realize that it was Alex who had been walking up behind her. Luckily she had realized he was there rather quickly. She would never have heard the end of it if she had accidentally mooned her best friend.

It didn't take long for Alex to introduce everyone. The Native American boy was Gareth, and his partner was Impmon. Bree was the brooding one with the Gazimon at her side, Falcomon was Alex's partner, while Mikemon's was Anna's. There were a few tears exchanged when she ran to meet the latter. Seeing these two familiar faces after weeks simply overcame her with emotion.

Quickly, she got them up to speed on everything that had happened these last weeks, and was amazed to hear their side of things. Alex had fought Falcomon for the right to be his partner, then ended up helping him digivolve to fight Airdramon.

Since that point, the group had been traveling, much like Jenna's group, toward Codon City, where they hoped to find a way to get home. They had hit a few rough spots, but everyone was alright.

Afterward, Jenna brought the group back to her site, where they all made acquaintances once again. Noah and Alex simply shook hands upon reuniting, but Jenna could see the underlying emotion in their eyes.

Once everything settled down and Rick agreed to stay there for a few hours, Jenna was able to sit back and relax. Finally, everything was going to be okay again.

Right after she went to the bathroom.

-LAUREN-

She woke just before evening to find Will still off planning and Tsukaimon snuggled beneath her good arm. The warmth was comforting, and she almost felt content to just lie there until night came and went again.

These last few days-scratch that, these last few weeks-had been the most hectic and confusing of her life. She had been lost, accepted, rejected, attacked, and then accepted once more. It was a lot of emotion to go through in such a short time. Would things ever return to a semblance of normalcy again? She doubted it.

Her thoughts wandered to the other children who had come this world. She knew Carter was one, and suspected that Floramon's assistant Daneca was one too. How many others had been brought here? And more importantly, why?

"Thinking deep thoughts?"

Lauren snapped awake and looked up to see BlackGatomon sitting in a tree nearby. "How did you find us?" She asked immediately.

BlackGatomon leapt down from the tree and padded over. "After Gargoylemon chased us off, Witchmon and I decided we needed to lay low outside the city. We figured that guy the Mason would assume we would go back to the hideout, so we came out here. We were actually right nearby when you and your boyfriend showed up."

Lauren blushed. "He's not my boyfriend..."

BlackGatomon moved over to sit beside her. "No? I came back to check on you before we left; saw you both in bed. You aren't just messing with his head, are you? I didn't think we'd rubbed off on you _that_ much..."

"It was an act to throw the Mason off my trail," Lauren muttered. "Which failed, for the record."

"I see," BlackGatomon nodded. They sat in silence for a moment before, "So even if it was fake, is he a good kisser?"

Lauren shoved the cat Digimon in embarrassment. "Why don't you go find out yourself if you're so interested?"

"I just might, now that you mention it," She purred. She laughed when Lauren's face dissolved into panic. "Ooh, you've got it bad. You've known him for what, a day?"

"We're done talking about this," Lauren pouted, turning away. "He probably doesn't even like me."

"In any case, I came here for a reason. Witchmon wants me to talk to you."

Lauren sat up, listening. "Are you trying to bring me back into your merry band of thieves?"

"Actually, we were hoping to join you guys," Gatomon admitted. "Witchmon finally realized that crime doesn't pay in the long run, even if we're able to get stuff now. Everyone gets caught eventually, so we want to go straight from now on."

Lauren gave her a flat look, obviously not convinced.

"It's the honest truth," BlackGatomon insisted. "Here, I'll go get Witchmon and we can talk this through. I swear she isn't going to try recruiting you again or anything."

Lauren was hesitant, but eventually nodded. "Alright, we'll see. I'll have to ask Will, but maybe you can come with us."

BlackGatomon gave a fanged grin and nodded before prowling away silently.

Tsukaimon yawned beneath her, shaking himself. "So that's one of the Digimon you used to work with?"

Lauren looked down at him. "Yeah...hey, how long have you been awake?"

Tsukaimon grinned. "Oh, you know, just for that whole conversation."

"What?!" Lauren panicked. "You heard us t-talking about-"

"Don't worry, I won't say anything to Will," The batlike creature promised. "There's a lot I know that he doesn't, actually. For example, I have a birthmark shaped just like the Crest of Hope under..."

"I'll...take your word for it," Lauren cut him off. "Speaking of whom, can you go get him? I need to talk to him about us staying around with BlackGatomon and Witchmon. Besides, I don't want him to burst a blood cell thinking too hard."

Tsukaimon laughed. " You got it." He soared off on wings still slightly halted.

Lauren sat back, looking up at the sky. Was BlackGatomon telling the truth? Were she and Witchmon really turning over a new leaf? Lauren still wasn't convinced.

Despite her pondering thoughts, her eyes began to feel heavy once more, and within moments, she had dozed off again.

-NOAH-

So they had worked out how Digital Advance functioned; now Noah and Swimmon needed to defeat a Digimon. Preferably an awesome one.

It was great that Alex had made his partner digivolve, of course, but Noah was still rustled because he'd defeated Digimon with Aegiomon while the closest Noah had ever come was ripping a few holes in some Troopmon. That hardly gave him much to be proud of.

"We just need to figure out a way either to get stronger while you're still a Rookie or get you to digivolve," Noah determined. "Because the more Digimon we beat, the stronger you can get, right?"

"This isn't a game, Noah," Swimmon reminded him. "We can't just go around deleting Digimon for the sake of it. If we did, would we be any better than the bad guys?"

"I guess that's a good point," Noah sighed. "So we just need to get attacked more often then."

Swimmon flinched. "Be careful what you wish for. You never know what might happen."

"Oh come on," Noah joked. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Sulfur Plume!"

Swimmon reacted first, leaping forward to tackle Noah to the ground. An instant later the air directly above them was filled with superheated air which could have scalded them instantly if they had still been there.

"You just had to go and say it," Swimmon growled, rolling clear. The Digimon facing them roared in challenge, taking a step forward.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Swimmon: That ugly slab over there is Golemon, a Champion level Digimon whose Sulfur Plume attack reeks just as much as his personality!_

Noah, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "Swimmon, this is our chance! You can take this guy down and we can get an Advance Chip from his data!"

Swimmon looked back and forth between Noah and Golemon several times. "You're kidding me, right?"

"I simply can't allow you to do that," Another voice declared from behind Golemon. Noah watched as a smaller figure jumped out to face them, leaping over its partner's shoulder with unnatural grace.

"I am Centarumon," it introduced itself. "And I am here to destroy you and your little group!"

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Swimmon: Noah, this guy is seriously bad news. Centarumon may only have one eye, but he's a dead-on marksman with his Solar Ray attack. When his foes are stunned, he finishes them off with his devastating Jet Gallop!_

"Come on Swimmon, we can't let these two intimidate us," Noah declared. "This is our chance to beat a Digimon and get those Digital Advance chips!"

"There's no way we can take on both of them," Swimmon shook his head. "We need backup before we even think about it. C'mon, let's go get Rick and Alex."

But Noah held his ground, refusing to even flinch as Centaurumon advanced slowly. "No way. This is one thing we need to do on our own without those two. Their Digimon evolved on the first day they were here, and we've been trying for two weeks with no good," He grinned down at his partner. "Come on, Swimmon. Don't tell me you're going to let Falcomon and Coronamon show us up. I know you can beat these guys. In fact, you can do it without digivolving at all!"

"A nice dream," Centaurumon grinned. "A shame it's only that," He leveled his arm cannon at Noah. "I'm afraid that now you have to die."

-WILL-

The two Digimon seemed nice enough, it was true, but still, Will felt slightly uncomfortable facing the crime duo which he'd spent a week trying to track down.

Immediately on meeting, both Digimon had attempted to shake his hand-at least they were trying to be courteous-but the fact that BlackGatomon's gloved hands ended in large claws, and that Witchmon's were largely disproportionate threw him off slightly.

"Sorry about the whole 'robbing your restaurant' business," Witchmon nodded. "Nothing personal, you understand."

"Right," Will nodded hesitantly.

Tsukaimon and BlackGatomon, on the other hand, were getting along famously. They had struck a conversation up as soon as the duo arrived. It turned out that the two had been raised around the same area, and actually had quite a bit in common.

"Were you taught by Agumon Hakase as well?" Tsukaimon asked.

"Yes!" BlackGatomon nodded. "And his hat was always crooked, nut any time he tried to fix it it just got worse."

The two continued to laugh while the humans and Witchmon talked.

"We really just want to find a place to start over," Witchmon explained. "But there's no way we can go on our own, not with the Mason after us. So we figured we could join forces, what with your partner able to digivolve and all."

Will thought about it. "I really do want to trust you, but I know how hard it can be to go straight after getting caught up in crime. Can I be sure that you two won't start stealing again?"

"It will be hard, we know," Witchmon nodded. "But we have decided that a life of poverty and freedom is better than one of crime and constant fear."

Lauren leaned in. "I can tell you want to change, and I've known you longer than Will. How about you guys come with us at least to the next village we reach and we'll decide things then?"

Witchmon nodded. "Thank you, Lauren. I promise you won't be disappointed in us."

Will was about to speak up when Tsukaimon suddenly flew over to him, landing on the table.

"Something's wrong," The Rookie explained. "There's smoke coming this way from the direction of the city."

The group quickly formed together to look, worrying for the worst. As they stood there, Witchmon took a deep breath inward.

"Brimstone," She frowned. "And something else. There is a touch of...magic." Her eyes went wide. "It can't be. Not him."

"Who is it?" BlackGatomon asked. "Someone you know?"

Witchmon nodded gravely. "Everyone, form up a defensive position. I fear that the Mason has sent an old friend after us."

"But who _is_ it?" Lauren asked. "How do you know them?"

"We met in my home world, the side dimension parallel to this one, Witchelny."

"A magician then," Black Gatomon guessed. "A magic user like you."

Witchmon shook her head. "Nothing like me. This is a creature who followed my people when we came to this world. The flame tracker..." Her voice grew horse just trying to say his name. "FlameWizardmon."

Will went over what she had said in his mind. "Hold on a second, what does that mean? Witchelny? Is that part of the Digital World?"

"In a way," Was her response. "Witchelny is a similar computerized world to this one, but with a special advanced form of programming knowledge. You humans would call it 'magic', though it is not much different than the abilities of Digimon here.

"In any case, my people came here from Witchelny to seek our fortunes. Many magicians, sorcerers and others came with us and were eventually adopted as Digimon. I am from Witchelny, as is FlameWizardmon, though his purpose for existing is only to destroy his targets. I fear the Mason hired him to hunt us down. He clearly no longer cares whether we live or die."

Will could see the flames now, moving ever closer. At their heart, he could barely make out a figure carrying what seemed to be two short staves.

**DIGIMON ANALYZER**

_Witchmon: There he is, FlameWizardmon. He's a Champion level Armor Digimon, special attacks Magic Ignition and Matchstick Barrage. He won't stop attacking until his foes have been consumed by his flames._

Will took a step forward. "Alright, if this guy wants a fight, we'll give him one. Tsukaimon?"

"Right," Tsukaimon nodded, springing into the air.

**DIGIVOLUTION ONLINE**

"Tsukaimon, digivolve to...Devimon!"

FlameWizardmon looked on in amusement at the new foe who had appeared. Instead of any form of anxiety, he increased his pace, swinging the twin wooden rods, which Will could now identify as matchsticks, in small circles at his sides.

"Witchmon, BlackGatomon, Devimon, William Cain, Lauren Arden," He called in a voice which sounded the way Will imagined smoke would if it could speak. A sort of flowing, crackling hiss which trickled in through the senses and fogged the mind. "You have been charged on accounts of theft, resisting arrest, and assaulting law enforcement."

"Well we knew that much," BlackGatomon noted.

"Therefore," FlameWizardmon continued, "You are sentenced to imprisonment, the length of which will be determined in court. Know however that should you choose to resist these orders, I have been granted clearance to delete you."

"So it's pretty much a death sentence," Lauren noted. "The Mason knows we won't go down without a fight. Would he really go that far to protect his secret?"

"I get the feeling the Mason's mind is not wholly his own," Devimon informed her. "If he came from the Human World, he may have sustained mental damage. That would explain why he denies living there so strongly."

"Enough talking!" FlameWizardmon called. "Magic Ignition!" Twin fireballs formed at the end of his staves, one blue, one red to match the coloration of the tips. The fireballs launched toward the group in a twisting pattern.

"Death Hand!" Devimon called, collecting black energy in his hand and firing it to block the flames. It was obvious, however, that FlameWizardmon's attack was stronger.

"My powers in magic are unmatched," The fire user boasted. "Not even your dark abilities can match my strength."

"You talk too much," Devimon noted, dashing in with a swipe of his oversized claw. FlameWizardmon crossed his matches, catching the blow and tossing Devimon's weight backwards.

"You are still weak, even if you are able to digivolve," The fire wizard crowed. "Perhaps I should weaken you further? To fell a tree, you cut away at its roots."

"What do you-" Devimon began.

With lightning speed, FlameWizardmon's arm came up, a burst of blue fire launching from the tip. Only this time, it flew past Devimon. Straight toward BlackGatomon and Lauren.

"No!" He cried, but it was too late. The flame thundered toward them.

Then, in the last second, a body threw itself in front of the blast, taking the shot full in the chest with a gasp of pain. The figure dropped to the floor, smoke rising from their body.

And Lauren screamed.

-NOAH-

There were moments when it really sucked to be him. For example, having a high-tech metal cannon be pointed straight at his face by a psychotic centaur creature with every intent to blow his brains out was not on Noah's top ten favorite moments list.

"Brine Pistol!"

A bullet of water knocked Centarumon's aim off just as a blast of light rang from the cannon. Noah felt the heat of it singe his hair a bit nanoseconds before his brain came to the next logical decision: Run.

"Go!" Swimmon called, as though reading his mind. The two took off, his partner gliding along on large fins. Noah took one second to glance back, instantly wishing he hadn't. As fast as a regular horse would be at full gallop, Centaurumon seemed to dash at twice that rate in an attempt to intercept them.

At the last second, Noah grabbed Swimmon and rolled to the side, allowing the horse-bodied creature to streak straight past him.

"Dumb as a bag of rocks," Noah chortled as Centaurumon continued to run, not slowing in the slightest. "So much for him."

"I hate to burst your bubble, but we've got two problems," Swimmon panted. "First, he's headed in the direction of the rest of our friends."

"Oh," Noah frowned. "That's a problem."

"And second," Swimmon continued, just as a roar burst forth behind them. "We still have to deal with Golemon."

Noah nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "Now him, we can take out no problem. Are you ready?"

Swimmon nodded as well. "Always. Let's thrash this guy then go save the others."

-LAUREN-

Her eyes went wide in disbelief as the figure slumped to the dirt, flames still licking at their clothing until they were snuffed by the impact of the fall.

"No...no way..." BlackGatomon gasped.

A few feet away, Witchmon slowly turned her head, smiling despite the hole burned through her torso.

"You need to...pay better attention," She informed her partner weakly. "That blast nearly hit you guys."

"You idiot!" BlackGatomon gushed. "What were you thinking, throwing yourself in front of us like some kind of hero?"

"Better than life as a crook," Witchmon shrugged. "Look, promise me something...take care of Lauren. Go with her, protect her. Looks like I won't be able to boss her around any more."

"Don't talk like that," Lauren begged. "You're going to be just fine! You'll come right back, right?"

Witchmon shook her head. "I'm not a true Digimon, I came from another world. If I had been born here, I would become a digi-egg again...but not this time."

Tears were forming in BlackGatomon's eyes. "You can't go...you can't just leave me for good. We-we're partners!"

Witchmon sighed. "Lauren is your partner now. But instead of thieves, you're going to be heroes. Heroes...the way I wanted to be."

And with those words, she closed her eyes and fell still.

The wave of emotion was so powerful it could be felt across the entire clearing. Lauren cried, BlackGatomon sat numbly.

And behind Devimon, Will's face was beginning to contort with anger.

"You're a monster," Lauren heard him mutter. "You're an inhuman monster! How _dare_ you? She was from your world; you two were _friends!"_

FlameWizardmon shrugged. "I owed no allegiance to her. She was my foe, and I removed her."

Will glared at him, every muscle tense. Just seeing him like that caused Lauren to shiver with fear.

"Witchmon said Digimon from Witchelny can't be reborn," He growled. "I'm pretty sure that includes you. And so now, I'm going to do to you what you just did to her."

-THE MASON-

His entire world was a lie. The Mason had learned that much only moments earlier when an old friend informed him that someone had changed his orders. FlameWizardmon was going after the others will full intent to exterminate them.

He had thought he was protecting people from further harm, but what he had learned proved that he had been lied to from the start. He had panicked when Will's influence sabotaged his plan to hide Lauren somewhere safe, not to mention having him blatantly accuse him of coming to the Digital World like the other children.

"Gargoylemon," He whispered, paranoid that somehow his former benefactor's spies would be able to hear him. "I think it would be best for us to part ways for a while. Together we will attract suspicion. I will head off to search for the other children-I know there are a few besides Will's group and the ones who were at the Temple of Jupiter who haven't organized themselves yet."

"And how will I know when it is time for us to reunite?" Gargoylemon questioned.

"I will send you a signal," His partner explained as he shed his coat and hat in favor of slightly more utilitarian attire. "Trust me, you won't be able to miss it."

Gargoylemon nodded, turning without another word and flying off. As he did, the Mason gazed up at the sky.

"Will," He muttered. "I'm sorry; I've led you straight down to the steps of Hell."

Then he turned and walked through the east gate, leaving Codon City behind him. It would be quite a long time before he returned again.

-WILL-

His thoughts were a typhoon of rage, confusion and terror. FlameWizardmon had known that Witchmon would leap to protect her friends. And so he had attacked, killed her without even a thought.

It seemed only fitting to respond in kind.

"Devimon," He growled quietly. "Hold nothing back. This guy doesn't deserve any pulled punches. He deserves to be destroyed."

The same all-consuming anger which gripped Will seemed to have overcome his partner. Devimon fell into an attack stance, claws coursing with shadows.

"Yes sir," He growled. Then he attacked.

FlameWizardmon fought back, attacking with his staves in a flurry of strikes. But this time, Devimon had the upper hand. First one, then the other match snapped into pieces like the flimsy wood they were. Then it was just the two of them.

In that moment, FlameWizardmon realized he was defenseless and vulnerable. If he continued trying to fight, he was going to die.

"Please," He begged, "Spare me!"

Devimon seemed to hesitate, his body relaxing as he listened for the call of mercy. His hands began to lower.

"Thank you," FlameWizardmon smiled.

Devimon returned the smile. Then he impaled his foe through the chest.

"That was for Witchmon," He muttered as his foe fell back. "You'll get no sympathy from me."

For a few seconds, FlameWizardmon contemplated what had just happened. He had killed an ally, tried destroying innocent lives. Now he was lying on the ground, dying.

A single tear fell from his eye, before he burst apart into data. True to Witchmon's word, there was no digi-egg.

Devimon was about to load the data when he paused. "Will, the Mason used another Digimon's data to power up Gargoylemon with that chip. Maybe you can do the same thing."

Will nodded, though the rage still burned within him. Slowly, he raised his digivice out straight.

"Scan data," He ordered. With a swirl, the data was pulled into his digivice, solidifying into a small card inserted into the port at its base. Will pulled it out and looked at it, tucking it into his pocket.

Then he collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Devimon reverted to Tsukaimon beside him.

He had saved his friends, protected them from harm and avenging a fallen comrade.

So why did he feel as though he'd committed a crime much worse than any FlameWizardmon had accused them of?

-?-

"The boy shows incredible strength," Vilemon informed his master. "His wrath could be a valuable asset to us."

The figure sitting on an ivory throne of bones tilted his head to the side in thought. "He shows potential, but his sense of justice is too strong for us to manipulate at this time."

"Perhaps further trials?" Vilemon suggested. "Like you did for the other Tamers?"

"Perhaps," The master nodded. "But not yet. First, we must locate the detective."

"The human Mason? Vilemon asked in surprise. "I thought he was secured?"

"Someone tipped him off to our true intentions with apprehending the other children," The master replied. "He has gone completely off the grid, vanished without a trace. His secret is jeopardized, and without our protection, he will make many enemies."

Vilemon nodded. "And what of the other six children?"

The master frowned. "The other six remain outside my realm of detection. But it is inevitable that they will select partners eventually-they are destined to do so, after all. And when they do, I will know precisely where they are hiding. In the meantime, concentrate forces on our other goals. The children can wait."

Vilemon nodded, bowing as he turned to leave. "Yes, my lord Rapture."

And with that, he was gone.

**AN: As always, thank you for reading this new chapter, and I hope it lives up to your standards.**

_Next time on Digimon Excel:_

_Lauren, Will and the others are understandably broken up after Witchmon's sacrifice, but the arrival of new members to their group in the form of Carter, Daneca and their partners lifts their spirits considerably._

_Meanwhile, Alex's group is placed in a difficult situation when Centarumon disables their digivices. Their only hope of defeating him lies with Noah, who is toppling giants of his own in a very literal sense._

_Finally, in the midst of a cataclysmic event, four more children come together to protect the Digital World. Unfortunately, chances are high that one of them could be the Mason in disguise. Trust will be tried in a world where the mysterious group known as Rapture continues their criminal activities, so you'd better not miss a moment of Digimon Excel!_


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